


Not Your Sister Yet

by Pannathian



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Gravity Falls - Freeform, Reunion!Falls, reunion falls, ru!falls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 00:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4201494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pannathian/pseuds/Pannathian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>**Based off the Reunion Falls AU by sailorleo on tumblr!** Mabel Pines was lonely- she always had been. Sure, she had bunches of friends, and sure she's had lots of romances (most one-sided), but she was bitterly lonely. She felt like there was no one she could truly share a life with being an only child. She dreamed of what it would be like to have a sibling of her own. She just didn't expect her dream to come true through a research paper, a ghostly little town, and the stupidest decision she'd probably ever made.</p><p>Now, she wished she had never found that article. </p><p>(No Longer Currently Being Worked on, Sorry!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

Mabel Pines should not have been on the bus she most definitely was currently on. Rolling peacefully through Oregon pine forest, she eagerly tapped away on her cellphone, telling her friends all about her outrageous act, and ignoring all their frightened replies.

Mabel Pines, who would probably exhaust a mule, had very stupidly, but also very bravely, run away.

Now, she wasn’t hateful of her parents, or her life. In fact, she lived comfortably and happily, and was fed a copious amount of sugar-coated gummies when on good behavior, but she still knew she had to go.  
It had started four months ago, just before school ended. She was finishing up the year with one more big English project, and upon researching Puritans and witches for the Scarlet Letter book she had been reading, she stumbled across a peculiar, short article on a little town by the name of Gravity Falls in Oregon. Bored with what she was already doing, and desperate to find any reason to not being doing it, she had paused her work and looked into the town, the very first article coming from the newsite for the town itself.

“Mystery Solver Catches Vampire Bat!”

The article had featured a small image of what seemed to be a boy dramatically leaning out a window, tasering and enormous looking bat. Normally, when Mabel saw any boy looking dramatic and intense, she was enraptured, and she fully expected to be enthralled, but she was much too busy being absolutely confused to do any such thing. The boy, even in such a small picture, looked oddly familiar?  
Intrigued, she read into the article and had done her top-of-the-line, expert, gasp of shock upon finding said boy’s name.

‘Dipper Pines’ glared from her laptop screen and she realized the boy seemed familiar because he looked like her. She then looked up ‘Dipper Pines, Gravity Falls’ and found several articles concerning said boy and random happenings in the town. In every picture of him, her heart became overwhelmed with unintelligible emotions because she just somehow knew this boy was related to her- hell, they even had the same last name! She ran down stairs, come over with the thought of asking her parents, but frozen in front of their door.

What if there had been a reason she didn’t know him? Maybe they were family members that didn’t talk anymore. She had given up the idea and treated herself to sugary cereal while connecting dots in her head. Same last name, appeared to be the same age, never visited or any information about him… She had nearly choked on her cereal and stared into the hacked up cereal floating in milk with wide eyes.

What if…

What if he was her brother?

If so, then one of them was adopted. If one of them was adopted then… She flailed wildly, leaping from her chair and immediately bursting into tears as she stormed into her parents bedroom, disrupting their peaceful movie watching.  
After a violent fit of anger and over-dramatic descriptions of hurt feelings, she was finally calmed enough to explain herself and ask them if she was adopted. Both of them were surprised and mildly embarrassed.

“Mabel, honey, we… We didn’t want to tell you until you were older, but… Yes, you do have a brother- a twin really. However we just… We couldn’t keep him. He lives with your great uncle right now and he doesn’t know either- we were planning to have your reunion before you two graduated high school.”

“So… I’m not adopted?” She sniffled.

“No, of course not! You are ours, we promise, but even if you were, dear, we would still love you.” And that was it.

For her parents at least. Mabel became obsessed with the idea of it- a brother. A sibling attached at the hip, alike in more than just blood, but appearance and almost every other aspect. She couldn’t stop dreaming about having company, especially in her mostly lonely world of only girlfriends and consistently disappointing boys. Such loneliness made her love the idea of romance and close friendship, but in action it was so much harder and frustrating. For once, she wondered if there was a boy she could potentially have a relationship with that didn’t have to be romantic to be important.

Then, she decided to devise a plan- an escape plan. She began to save her allowance, collecting all her winter clothes (Oregon was cold, right?), and looking up bus and train prices since she obviously couldn’t go by plane from Piedmont, California to Oregon.

She picked a Friday night a week after school ended to sneak out, knowing her parents went to bed early and got up late and usually didn’t check on her until late in the afternoon. This way, she could get an early start and make distance before they could even notice she was gone. She left a note telling them where she was going and why and snuck out after her parents fell asleep.

That was yesterday, and now, after ignoring all their calls and her friends messages, she was nearly fifteen minutes from the Gravity Falls bus station. She buzzed with excitement, flipping and closing her phone with anxiety and eagerness. Fifteen minutes felt like a hundred years, but they finally arrived and she was off the bus faster than the woman in the front could even open her eyes.

She drank in the piney, open air she was so unfamiliar to, feeling dizzy with how fresh it was compared to her suburb home near the city. Stumbling off the bus stop, she found the nearest gift shop and waddled in to grab a free map of the town, approaching the cashier. She got the young man’s attention, probably in his mid-twenties with bright eyes, dark skin, and pale blond hair, and he gave her a friendly smile. 

“Hello, little miss, what can I do for ya’?”

“Hi! I’m looking for Dipper Pines? Where does he live?” She wasn’t nervous about asking by name since he’d been in the newspapers before, so people were sure to know him. 

“He lives in the old Mystery Shack- want me to mark it on the map for ya’?” She nodded and shoved the map onto the counter. He opened it and plucked a red sharpie from his breast pocket and circled a small building on the outskirts of town with an unpaved road to it. “We’re right here, so to get to the road, just follow down that way until ya’ see the ad signs. Theres a ton of them, so ya’ can’t miss it.” He said warmly, and she returned the smile just as brightly.

“Thank you! Have a super wonderful fantastic day!~” She cheered before bouncing back out the shop and following the directions she’d been given. The man had been right- there was a BUNCH of ad signs near the entrance of the road, and she started off down the road with a proud step and a high chin.

“I gotta pocket, gotta pocket full of sunshine~” She sang to herself cheerily, occasionally pulling out her map and setting markers for how far she’d walked. She didn’t even notice the dark hooded boy walking in the opposite direction in front of her until he got close enough to address her directly.

“Hey.” Her head snapped up in slight surprise, landing on the boy.

“Oh…”

“’Sup. Are you lost?” He asked, and her heart fluttered at the way his hair fell in his face.

“Not anymore- uh, I mean, hehe, you know a place called the Mystery Shack?” She asked shyly, and he smiled.

“Yeah, right down the road. I can walk you there if you want?” She nodded and he offered his arm and she took it with bashful grace.

A few minutes later and after brief introductions, she was sure she was dreaming. Sure, she didn’t really know him, but a nice, cute boy was always appreciated, and she was sure to ditch him once she met Dipper.

“So, uh, Norman…” She started, grabbing his attention. “You must know this town pretty well, huh? What’s it like living here?” She asked, looking up at him wonderingly. He gave her another relaxed smiled before answering.

“Well, it’s alright. You hear a lot of rumors about evil stuff in the forest, sometimes. Some of ‘em are true…” He stopped walking and turned better to her, still loosely linked with her arm as she gave him a curious look. “But, it’s not so bad…” He leaned down towards her and Mabel’s brain seemed to shut off and go into panic mode. She was frozen with silence as he moved and couldn’t even form a thought in her head of what she felt.

Luckily, she didn’t need to as something collided violently with the side of Norman’s head and he was knocked to the ground. This snapped her out of her trance, and she gasped, turning to Norman on the ground with a sense of worry.

“Oh my gosh! Norman, are you oka-” She stopped mid-sentence, realizing Norman was no longer there. Several small men were now rubbing hurt limbs, Normans’ clothes now loose and empty on the ground. She had no words.

“HEY!” She spun at the new voice and her eyes landed on the boy who apparently shot the blunt object at Norman(?). “I thought I convinced you creeps to stay in the forest where you belong!” He growled, storming up as his grappling hook retracted itself.

“This isn’t the last you’ll see of us human boy! We have power beyond your comprehension, and don’t think we’ll be afraid to-” One of the small men, dressed like a garden gnome, pointed accusingly at the boy before said boy pelted a rock at it’s head.

The gnomes all hissed and began to scurry away for fear of being hit too and the boy bristled angrily, calling after,” Yeah, go tell your army or whatever that Dipper Pines kicked your asses!” And like it was some after thought, he added,” And thats Dipper with two ‘p’s and one ‘r’!”

Mabel stared owl-eyed at the boy, completely befuddled and at a loss of every superflous word in her dictionary to say anything. He turned to her, now calmer and apologetic.

“Sorry about all that, you’re like the fifth girl they’re tried that on. I’m guessing you aren’t from around here, huh. Were you looking for something?” He asked, eyeing her suitcase.

Mabel found her English again and slowly got out,” Uh… Yeah… I was um… Looking for…” And, like she had an epiphany, her face lost it’s vacantness and filled with sparkling wonder and eagerness. “Wait! Did you say your name was ‘Dipper Pines’?” She asked. He blinked at her, a little confused.

“Uh, yep. That’s me, Dipper Pines. Wh-” He was about to question, but was engulfed in fuzzy sweater and curly hair, and two surprisingly strong arms squeezing him in a bearish hug. Only for a moment was he fazed, but he quickly collected himself and managed to pry and shove Mabel off, distancing himself with a look of suspicion and worry.

“What the heck? What was that?! Who are you?!” He sputtered, and Mabel realized maybe that wasn’t the best introduction. A better one would have been sweeping him off his feet and dramatically declaring their relation, or perhaps she could have drawn this out and appeared randomly in town around him until he thought he was being stalked. She internally wished these great ideas had struck her earlier rather than in the few seconds she was required to answer a completely different question.

“Oh! Uh, haha, right… Sorry about that… But, uh, listen! My name is Mabel! And I…” She took a deep breath and announced in a squealish, bouncing voice,” And I’m your sister!”

Dipper stared at her, eyes white and brows furrowed into a line. She waited for his excited reply, grinning happily, doing jazz hands with her face pretty much.

His reply was actually, much more realistic.

“I don’t have a sister. Okay, bye.” He said awkwardly, backing away from her and walking around her with an intentional separation.

This was not how Mabel had imagined it to go. She pouted, grabbed her case and trailing after him with puffed cheeks.

“No! I’m serious! I even asked my parents about it! Dipper! Don’t ignore me! Let me explain, it’s a really cool story!” But all her insistence fell on deaf ears as he continued to march down the road back home. She followed all the way, meeting his angry backward glances with peachiness and brushing off the cold vibe. 

When they finally arrived to the Shack, he spun on her, pushing her back slightly with a hard glint in his eye.

“Stop it!” He growled, and Mabel flinched away, her smile gone. “I don’t know what you are, but your stupid trick isn’t working! I don’t have a sister, I know you’re just some body-snatcher, so screw off before a put this through your head!” He snapped, holding up his grappling hook to prove himself. Mabel gaped, threatened and mildly shocked.

And then she got angry.

“Excuse me? Body-snatcher? Whatever the heckle THAT means! But I know it isn’t good, and I don’t find such a title very becoming of me, Mabel Pines, who whether you like it or not, is your sibling! Excu-use me, Mr. Dippingsauce, but I did NOT miss Carleigh Janhill’s sweet 16 birthday party to sneak up a million miles away from home to meet my long lost twin and have him-” she jabbed him in the chest, her eyes narrowing,”- Tell me, that he wants nothing to do with me!”

Dipper opened his mouth to reply, but the front door to the Shack opened and a fat, older man stood in the doorway.

“Hey Dipper, I heard some yellin’ out here, is everything alri-” The man walked out onto the porch and noticed Mabel and stopped midsentence. He looked between the two quickly, brows furrowed. “Woah… Freaky.”

“I know! It’s some monster who says it’s my sister and won’t leave me alone!” Dipper pushed Mabel away again, dashing up to the porch, Mabel tailing with an oddly similar run, though her odd wobble may have been from dragging her suitcase.

“I am NOT a monster, though if you keep calling me one, I may bite you!” She threatened and Dipper hid behind Soos, who simply stared at the girl curiously.

“See! Obviously a monster!” He hissed, but Soos was unconvinced.

“Idunno man, she’s got a suitcase- plus she looks like you, but ain’t you! How many bodies did you see her snatch?” Dipper begrudgingly mumbled something like a ‘none’ and Soos laughed. “Well, I guess the only eay to know is to ask Stan- he would know wouldn’t he?” 

“Stan?” Mabel asked, confused.

“MY great uncle.” Dipper emphasized,” You’re right! He’ll put this to rest, and then I’ll put you to rest!” Dipper spat before running inside. Mabel paused before following, seeming sad.

“I came all this way… And he doesn’t even want me…” She mumbled before slipping past Soos, who watched her with mild concern. She tracked Dipper to a far doorway with only a curtain to separate it from the house, and as she emerged through it, was met by the familiar sight of a gift shop. This one, however, did not feature totally typical things as oddities lined the walls instead of knick-knacks.

“Theres a girl who says what?!” She turned just as a much older gentleman spun around to spy her in the doorway. She took a deep breath and gave him a sparkling silver smile and put up her hands in a flourish.

“Hi! I’m Mabel Pines, and I’m Dipper’s twin sister!” She announced happily.

The man went pale, jaw nearly dropping to the floor.

“How… On earth… Did you get up here… From Piedmont… On your own?”


	2. You Shouldn't Be Here

“Wait- Piedmont? She’s a person?” Dipper exclaimed from behind Stan, darting around to point accusingly at Mabel. Stan looked at him in bewilderment.

“Yes she’s… A person- Mabel, why the hell are you here?! Where are your parents?!” Stan panicked, runnng his hands through his hair stressfully. Mabel lowered her arms with a pouty face.

“Why is nobody happy to see me- even when you know me!” She whined, and folded her arms while Stan rubbed his temples, mumbling angrily.

“Mabel… You were… Did you run away?!” Mabel groaned and threw her hands up, falling to the floor in a very distressed and overly dramatic way.

“I save up for MONTHS! Drag myself up here and miss an amazing birthday party- get in TROUBLE, all to see some dorky boy in a gross hat who thinks I’m an alien!” She fake-sobbed, but did feel kind of disappointed and annoyed.

“Mabel! For the love of god did you just leave without saying anything?! Soos, get me my wallet, I have her parents number!” Stan frantically instructed the man, who immediately scampered off. Mabel shot back up, launching herself onto Stan with a vicious cry of protest.

“NOO! Please please please! I can’t spend all summer all alone again! I want a brother this isn’t fair! Please don’t send me back!” Now she really was crying, and as Stan pulled her off, she dropped to the ground, now really realizing how upset she was.

She hadn’t really thought about it, but she really wanted a brother. A lot. And it hurt that she was separated for seemingly no reason at all. Not only that, the idea on now that she was finally here, she was going to be sent right back, was extremely upsetting. Let alone the fact her brother was looking at her like a melted piece of gum on the sidewalk.

“Mabel, oh my god, stop! Please stop crying, jeez, you’re just like when you were a baby…” Stan, now pulling a paper out of his wallet Soos had handed him.

“No! I find out I have a dumb twin brother and all I’ve ever wanted was a sibling and now I just gotta pretend I don’t know!” She cried and Dipper awkwardly slunk behind the counter, very embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Stan growled, sick of listening to her wail, and picked her up off the floor and threw her over his shoulder and went to take her into the kitchen. 

“You-” He found Dipper behind the counter, covering his ears,”- Room. Now. Don’t come out until I say so.” Dipper snorted disgruntedly, but followed orders. Stan took the still crying Mabel into the kitchen. He dropping her into the dining table chair, and kneeled in front of her with a serious face.

“Mabel, stop it. Quit crying so I can talk to you.” He said sternly, and the girl forced herself to calm down enough to sniffles and hiccups. Stan sighed heavily.

“Mabel, you and Dipper were separated because… Just understand that right now, you two can’t be together. Aside from that, you just ran away from home- imagine how terrified your parents are! Not knowing where you are!” Stan explained while Mabel aggressively avoided eye contact.

“I left a note…” She mumbled and then pulled her phone out of her pocket, opening it and showing him ‘missed calls from: Mom, Dad’ in her updates. Stan sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That doesn’t change the fact you just traveled the west coast to see someone you don’t know. Mabel- Dipper didn’t know either. Imagine how he feels right now? Knowing your the one living with your parents and he’s not?” Stansaid lowly, holding her chin to make her look at him. She frowned. This was not at all how this was supposed to go! She was supposed to arrive, be cute and charming, and everyone would love her!

But she just started crying again, and pushed Stan’s hand away, pulling her sweater over her face and her knees up under it as well. 

“Mabel- what on earth on you… Stop that! Girl, come out of ther-”

“Mabel isn’t here right now! She’s in sweater town!” The girl hissed back, voice laced with tears again, and Stan didn’t try to pry. He stood slowly, huffing and running a hand through his hair again. He eyed her softly shaking, huddled figure on the chair and went out of the kitchen to find the phone and call her parents.

-

An hour later, Stan told the very upset Mr. and Mrs. Pines about the situation and assured them she was alright, just upset, and that Dipper was probably not taking the information very well. The two were already on their way up to pick Mabel up, but she refused to come out of the small pod she was in on the chair. It couldn’t possibly we comfortable in that position on the chair, but she held it.

She stared at the small hairs on her legs, light filtering through her knitted sweater, making her skin pink. She had stopped crying, but was now just blank in her mind.

It had been stupid to come up. What was she doing? Why would Dipper care if he had a sister? And it definitely would be upsetting for him, but he didn’t exactly have parents to run crying to to assure him he was theirs… And now she was forcing him to be in the same area as one another… She made a mess and she felt awful.

A small touch on her knee through he sweater startled her, and she recoiled away, whimpering.

“Leave me alone! Mabel’s in sweater town right now!” She dismissed, but only heard a snort.

“Well, could she come out for a minute?” Dipper replied.

Her head immediately poked out, but upon seeing him, she just burst into tears again and buried her head back down.

“Woah! Hey, no no no! Mabel, c’mon please stop crying!” Dipper said awkwardly, shaking her slightly. She pushed her head out again, releasing herself from her sweatery prison, but now looking red-eyed and miserable. She sniffled as she avoided eye contact with him.

“What?”

Dipper fiddled with his fingers nervously, eyeing her carefully.

“U-uhm… Well…” He stuttered, and rubbed his neck. “I just… You really are my sister then…”

“Yeah.”

“Then… Do you live with… Our parents?”

Mabel said nothing but nodded and Dipper bit his lip like he was fighting tears, though if Mabel looked at him, she would know he’d already shed some.

“So… They never told you… How did you?…”

“They were going to introduce us in highschool… And I found an article about you online…” She said soflty, tired from crying and guilt.

“Oh…”

They sat in silence and Mabel rubbed viciously at her eyes. She wasn’t just crying from sadness, but the unusual plant life in Orgon make her allergies act up really badly, so she sniffled and teared up for everything right then.

“Mabel…” She looked up at him sadly and expectantly, but he just looked away again.

“What?”

“I don’t know… It’s just… Weird… I don’t know how to feel… I feel angry and sad… But you just…” Dipper sighed, sitting in the other chair and pulling his knees up. Mabel frowned at him.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t think this through very well, I guess… I just… Really wanted a brother, I guess… I felt kind of robbed of that.” She admitted, genuinely feeling guilty.” Everything just seems like a good idea until it isn’t, huh.”

Dipper snorted in reply but just sat quietly. They occasionally glanced at one another, analyzing once again. It was very odd for them both, to have a stranger suddenly be exactly like you and have close relations. Dipper was mildly impressed, though, that Mabel got up there all on her own, and that she had the stubbornness to just disobey like that. She seemed impulsive and childish, but she held weight and her impulse meant she was nearly fearless- she did throw herself onto Stanford Pines.

“Hey Mabel?”

“Mn?”

“I… I want you to stay here.” Mabel perked up and looked at him with a gleam of hope.

“Really?!”

“Yeah. I mean, everything’s just happening really fast, and this is totally just… I don’t even know, but… If I can just simplify it down to you being a new friend, I think it’ll be easier for me.” Dipper explained, doing little hand motions to emphasize his point, which Mabel thought was stupidly cute like their father’s gestures.

“I understand. I really want to stay here too! But my parents will probably take me home and ground me for a million and six years…” She pouted, swinging her feet in frustration.

“Well, maybe we can convince them. Just for the summer, a few weeks even. i mean, we already know about each other.” Dipper persisted, eyes brightening slightly.

“Mabel! Your parents are here!” Standford called from the front of the Shack and Mabel looked at Dipper in somewhat of a panic.

“You better convince quick, Dippin’ dots!”

“Don’t call me that.”


	3. Someone to Be at My Hip

Mabel hopped off her chair and took a deep breath, holding out a confident hand to Dipper, who just stared at her. He gulped and took her hand, but gave a soft squeeze to keep her attention.

“Mabel… I need you to understand… Right now, you aren’t my sister. You’re a stranger, and I don’t know these people, so I can’t… I can’t relate with you as well as you’re hoping. I don’t even know if I can talk to them yet, so if you could… If you could talk to them instead…” He explained quietly, looking away from her. Mabel wavered, disappointed, but she understood.

“Okay, I will.” And she led him off the chair and to the front of the house. The entire way, Dpper tried to not burst into nervous tears. He was definitely angry, and part of him wished Mabel and his parents would just vanish and that this hadn’t happened- but he wasn’t a little kid. He had fought monsters, made daring escapes, done what most kids only dreamed- surely he could face his parents.

But when Mabel reached to open the front door, he pulled away, eyes wide with fear, and she turned and frowned sadly at him.

“I can’t… I can’t do it… I can’t see them right now.” He choked out and ran off, up to his room. Mabel wanted to follow, to convince him to be strong, but she had to remind herself; she wasn’t his sister. Not yet, anyways. She turned back to the door, and inhaled deeply, opening it with a stern expression on her face. 

Stan stood on the porch, her parents there, a running car in the parking lot behind them. They all turned to her and her dad immediately ran to her, arms wide.

“Mabel syrup, oh my god, you scared us half to death!” He scooped Mabel up, kissing her head profusely, though he was getting mostly a mess of curly hair. Mabel reluctantly hugged him back, but after a moment pushed him back and gave herself distance, keeping her stern expression.

“Mabel, why did you do this? We almost called the police! This was not-” Her mom began, very upset, but Mabel held up her hand.

“I understand that maybe I didn’t think this through but… Imagine how I feel! How Dipper feels! You couldn’t expect me to just forget about him and pretend I don’t want him around! He almost came out and talked to you, but now he’s too scared! I want to be here, he wants me here, and I think… I think we need to be together! Siblings are important and I’m bad at words but I do know this,” Mabel rambled, tearing up and flailing wildly to emphasize her point and exert some of her frustration, “I know that you have no good reason to keep us apart! I’m lonely, and if Dipper is willing to give it a chance when he’s probably just mad and upset, then you should too!” She finished, being overtaken by tears.

The three adults all looked between eachother, somewhat sympathetic and somewhat exhausted. Her mother kneeled in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder with a comforting squeeze.

“Mabel, Dipper does not want us here, I promise. He’s just-”

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT!” All turned to look back to the inside of the house, where Dipper stood fists balled and tears running down his face. Mabel’s parents were struck nearly quiet and her mom tensed visibly.

“Honey-”

“Don’t call me that! I am angry! At all of you! Stan for lying, you two for even existing, and her for doing this! But at least I know I gotta try and make the best of it! I want you all to vanish, but I also want her here and I want a family! This isn’t fair! Why couldn’t you wait! But I guess this isn’t about being fair, and I suppose if it was the other way around I’d want to see her too…” Dipper cried, viciously trying to rub the tears out of his eyes.

Nobody had a reply for him, not even Mabel. But she tried anyways.

“I know… I’m not really his sister right now… But what’s the point of taking me home? I’m just going to be lonely all summer… Please, Mom, Dad, at least let us try…” She begged softly. 

“Mabel dear, we can’t just-”

“Just let them.”

All eyes fell on Stan, who stared at the floorboards, seeming stuck between fury and surrender. Mabel wasn’t sure how to take his attitude and eyed him as he folded his arms with a huff.

“She’s right, there’s no point. It’s too late, they’ve already-” he waved his hand between the two kids with another hot breath,”- done it, so might as well let them be together for a little while. “

“Stanford, you don’t have to do this.” Mr. Pines reasoned, but Stan waved him off.

“Doesn’t matter, they’ll be better here than separated.” He sighed.

The parents looked at eachother, then to the two kids, one staring back with pleading eyes, and the other with his face in his hands, shaking. Mrs. Pines took her husbands hand and bit her lip.

“Alright… Mabel, you can stay. However, if Dipper says even once he wants you to leave, we’re coming up to get you and you are going home, are we clear?” She said sternly, but Mabel’s bright smile made her unease fade just a little bit.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Mabel cried, hugging her mom tightly.

“You better call us once a week okay?” Her dad insisted and she mumbled an ‘okay’ from her face buried in her mom’s side.

Dipper was already gone, back upstairs and huddled in his closet. Why had he said that? Why did he say she could stay? The feeling of hatred burned through his chest and he just wanted them all to go right now- but it was too late. He’d signed the waver and Mabel was going to stay here and ruin his life. Or at least, make it feel like she was.

Maybe he was overreacting- maybe he should be thrilled. Mabel did immediately seek him out upon finding him, and his parents didn’t look at him like they hated him. But it was all out of… Pity. Their looks were pitiful, and Mabel came up here because it’s what she had wanted- not because she thought it would be good for him.

Who cared, he supposed, if Dipper had conflicting feelings. Stan was supportive, but got awkward whenever Dipper tried to talk about his feelings about his lack of family. Maybe the guy wasn’t good with family or feelings, but the guy never even tried, so Dipper didn’t bother. He never bothered with much, anyways.

He fell asleep at some point, and only woke up to the sound of crinkling paper under the door of the closet. He rubbed at his eyes, mostly to just get out the dried tears rather than light, since there was none, and plucked the paper from beaneath the door. It smelled like Cheerios, and… Glue? He of course, wouldn’t have noticed this if it weren’t for the fact the paper literally just smelled like those two particular things. It was pink, and slightly heavy, like it was cardstock rather than printer paper.

He squinted, and suddenly remembered a spare flashlight under all his crap in his closet, and searched for it. Somehting bit his hand, but he found the light anyways, and began to read (after checking the bite to make sure it was only a spider bite).

‘Hey Dip! Can I call you that? If not, just let me know, but it’s kinda like, my thing to give people nicknames! I’m gonna call Stan something funny too- maybe… Stanfried! Or… Stankle! I like Stankle, hehe… Okay, but uh, you’ve been in your closet for like, a million years! And I know you’re super sad and angry right now, and probably don’t really wanna talk, but that’s okay! As your new, designated BEST FRIEND EVER! It is my job to let you know stuffs while you are sad so you don’t have to worry about the outside world! So let me just update you on some stuffs that has occured in the past 3 hours, 16 minutes, and 28… 29… 30 seconds!

1\. Stan scratched his back like a bear on the doorframe! (ew, some of his hair stuck to the little splintery pieces- I saved one for my scrapbook anyways! I like to scrapbook, by the way!)

2\. A pretty red-head came by to pick up a jacket- said her name was Wendy, and nearly fell off her bike when she saw me! It was really funny, and she seems cool!

3\. A goat ate a patch of my suitcase- why is there a goat in the attic? I love him! I’m gonna call him Gompers! He’s cute!

4\. I discovered a cool mole on the back of my arm! Hopefully it’ll grow other moles and be a SUPER MOLE- wouldn’t that be cool?! Or maybe freckles or something will form and I’ll have a cool starry tattoo on my forehead like you do!

5\. I realized I was really sorry for all of this. For pulling you into this. I’m sorry I just kinda, didn’t think at all, and though I’ve apologized before, I want to say it again because… I dunno… I just want you to understand I was thinking… Hoping, I guess… That there was someone else who was as lonely as I was. People were around me but… It wasn’t quiet ever enough. I wanted someone to be at my hip! But… I can’t make you do that. I can’t make anyone do that. And I’m sorry I forced that expectation on you.’

And Dipper cried. A lot


	4. Scrapbookortunity

Dipper climbed out of the closet, knees burning and neck hurting like he’d just wrestled his way away from a barrage of gnomes, and stumbled into the dim light of his room. There was no light out his window, and a cold plate of food rested on his bedside table. He blinked at it, confused. Stan knew when Dipper didn’t come down to eat- there wasn’t much point of getting him a plate if it was just going to go untouched.

Waddling over to it, rubbing his face to try and rub off any stray tear marks, he found the food was in the shape of a smiley face- carrots, a corndog drizzled with something that looked suspiciously like ketchup with glitter, and mashed potatoes. He felt sick and frustrated and ran his finger over the edge of the plate.

Why was she so nice? So sudden and odd and invasive. Stan NEVER made full meals, not even half ones. Mabel had gone to the trouble of making him dinner, and the plate was cold. He sighed and picked it up, turning to take it out of his room and to the kitchen.

He felt bad about throwing it away, but he didn’t want it, and it was bad to encourage the goat. The clock on the wall pointed at 10:39 and he scowled in irritation at the fact he’d wasted his day crying. Moreover, that he’d wasted his day feeling like the world was collapsing.

As he walked back to his room, soft music came from down the hallway at the top of the stairs. The actual attic room door was shut, and multiple colors flashed from underneath the door. As he approached, the music got louder, but it wasn’t overwhelming, just a dim hum of someone playing a radio to fill a room. He was tired, and knew Mabel would tired him out, but he thought he should thank her, so he knocked.

Moments later, the door inched open and Mabel stood there in an over-sized shirt that served her well as a night-shirt. She smiled brightly, but nervously at Dipper.

“Hey! Sorry if my music is loud. Want me to turn it down?” She asked, but Dipper shook his head and brushed past her, ignoring her looks as he observed the half-changed room.

Half-changed as in, everything in the attic space had been shoved to one side like a wall of crap, and what space was left now held a fold out bed, posters, and multi-colored fairy lights. He eyed the room in mild disbelief, pursing his lips.

“You brought… This stuff with you… You wasted suit space for this?” He turned and watched Mabel shut her door and bounce past him to jump onto her bed.

“Well… I have cash, so I’ll buy myself whatever I need… Plus, I uh-” She held up a finger as if to catch a thought, and bent over to pull out her case from beneath her bed, zipping it open, and pulling out a couple sweaters, and then several rolls of yarn and a half-finished sweater,”- I knit! And crochet. And weave. And bead. And bedazzle. And emboss. And-”

“I get it, you make stuff.” 

Though the words were cold, Mabel laughed, and Dipper couldn’t stop it from infecting him, and only managed to strangle it into a smirk.

“Yeah… Um… Did you read my letter?” She picked up her almost finished sweater, hands suddenly quick with flicking the yarn around and burning through a row at record speed. At least to Dipper.

“Yeah… Please don’t put Stan’s hair in your scrapbook.” He diverted, and she let him.

“Too late! It’s glued in- go ahead and look in that scrapbook- to the left of your foot- no, don’t step on it!” Mabel cursed as Dipper did, in the end, step on it before picking it up, brushing off the gross foot germs he’d gotten on it before opening it.

It was titled “Wild Teen Adventures!!!!!!”- with exactly six exclamation points. As he flicked through, he saw colorful glimpses of boys with a million heart stickers around them, girls with the same treatment, a dozen or so pages of party photos and silly photobooth strips. The most recent page was titled, “Oh, Brother!” with cuttings of newspapers of Dipper and Gravity Falls in general, and a somewhat blurry photo of Dipper looking over his shoulder with a pouty look. He squinted and looked back up at Mabel, who was still grinning at him while knitting.

“When did you take this picture? I don’t remember this?” He turned and showed her, and she just giggled in that ‘oh, please’ kind of way.

“I NEVER miss a scrapbookortunity!”

“A what now?”

“Speaking of!” She appearified a phone from behind her knitting, and turned so both she and Dipper were in the shot, her giving a silly face, the camera flash going off. Dipper blinked the light out of his eyes, and hissed.

“Mabel!”

“Sorry! It helps me log stuff that happens!” Suddenly, she got very defensive, but not in an angry way, more pathetic and desperate. He paused and she fought to regain composure. “I forget stuff a lot… So, I uh, use this as a way of making sure I never forget stuff!” She bubbled again, but that odd burst of insecurity still behind her smile and eyes. Dipper chose to forget it even happened.

“Okay… Well, don’t do that anymore… Taking pictures randomly of people… It’s kinda weird.” Dipper shut the book and tossed it back to her, to which she frowned.

“Well, no promises. I like to remember stuff… Hey, do you know how to braid?” She got up, opening a small pocket in her case and plucking a few hair-ties from it. Dipper shook his head, scowling.

“Of course not. I don’t… I didn’t have any reason to.”

“Welp! Now you do! I always get my braid slightly lopsided on my own. I’ll teach you real quick, then you can goto bed.” She insisted pulling him to sit on her bed, and she sat in front of him, pulling some hair forward. She briefly instructed him, analyzing him as he just quietly nodded and once Mabel turned to let him braid all of her curly mane, waited as he tried to figure it out.

Twenty or so minutes later, he ended up with a slightly uneven, messy braid, but Mabel insisted she was going to sleep on it anyways, so it didn’t matter. Before Dipper left, he paused in the doorway and cleared his throat while Mabel busied with cleaning up her floor a bit.

“Uh, hey… Thanks… For the letter, and… For dinner. I didn’t eat it- but uh, I appreciate the thought. You don’t have to do that.” He coughed awkwardly, but Mabel just chuckled and tossed a teddy bear at him.

“Of course I did! You needed to eat something- or at least have someone let you know they cared to want you to eat something. Stan told me you wouldn’t eat it, so I just made it a smiley face!” She made a raspberry noise before continuing,” Stan’s weird! He says weird stuff a lot- wording stuff weird. Like, earlier, how weird was it that he said we’ve already ‘done it’?”

“He meant we met each other.” Dipper said with slight confusion.

“Didn’t sound like it! But I could be reading into his tone of voice… Maybe he’s an alien! I dunno, everyone here in Oregon seem’s alien-esque… Oh well! Night, Dip!” She babbled, and Dipper gave her a small wave before leaving.

Had it been weird how Stan had worded the earlier conversation?


	5. Old Leather

The way she watched everyone was odd. Sitting and eyeing them carefully as they busied about the shop. Dipper had to help out at the register from nine in the morning to at least noon, and then was free to do whatever for the rest of the day, so Mabel patiently waited on a stool by the counter while he worked. She didn’t just watch him, though, which was a relief. She watched the other customers, Soos, Wendy, even scrutinizing Grunkle Stan as he came and went in between tours. 

Once the clock chimed for noon, Dipper let out a sigh of relief, changing shirts quickly behind the counter from the question mark’d one to his normal one. Mabel hopped off the stool stretching, giving Dipper another charming smile.

“Do you have to sit there and watch? Don’t you want to go out and explore?” Dipper asked her. She shuffled her feet with a frown.

“Oh… Uh, sorry… I just… Get to know people better by watching how they act, I suppose. I just wanted to see your mannerisms and stuff! You’re very awkward.” Upon his irritated look, she tacked on nervously, “Plus I was… Afraid I’d run into something less-than-friendly if I explored… Those little men were… Creepy.” She admitted. He softened and laughed.

“They’re gnomes, and I guess I can’t blame you. Their big eyes are really freaky.” He strolled to the back of the shop to the doorway, holding the cloth aside for Mabel to skip through. She did, heading for the kitchen, and he followed.

“Gnomes? That IS weird. So this town has like… Spooky stuff, for realsies? Not just fakey stuff?” She said in mild awe, and Dipper nodded, pouring a glass of water for them both from a pitcher in the fridge. 

“Yep. Only Stan’s stuff is fake. It kinda helps people be less nervous- if they’re convinced most of it is fake or just their imagination, it makes it easier on us.” He shrugged, giving Mabel a glass and sipping from his. Mabel eyed him, but said nothing as she drank.

“Okay… Well, can we go out exploring today, then? Like find cool monsters!” She offered, and Dipper shook his head viciously.

“No way! Searching out evil stuff is a bad idea. You wanna see fairies? Okay. Deertaurs are fine too, hell, even the Multibear is a cool guy. But absolutely nothing potentially dangerous.” Dipper said sternly, and Mabel frowned again.

“What’s the point of having cool stuff to find if you have-”

“No! Mabel, look, you have no idea what’s out there! Stan always warned me not-”

“Do you always listen to what that old guy says?” She said exasperatedly, setting down her glass on the counter to put her hands on her hips. Dipper looked absolutely offended, bristling slightly.

“You- believe it or NOT, Mabel, some of us LISTEN to our guardians! Stan has kept me and everyone else safe since I’ve been here! What room do you have to say anything about him!”

“Maybe because he’s suspicious! For a very sharp guy, you turn a blind-eye where you don’t think you’ll find anything!” She snorted, turning from Dipper, head held high as she stomped away. Dipper followed, positively fuming.

“What?! I do not! Stan is NOT suspicious! What do you even have to say to back that up?!” He snarled, trying to stop her from walking away, but she walked briskly to the back door, ‘hmf’ing and slamming the door open.

“How would you know? Blinded by your own admiration, you look not where love can fail!” She said dramatically, earning a groan from Dipper.

“Are you quoting something? Is that supposed to prove your point, or are you just saying random nonsense again?” Dipper clamoured down the steps of the porch after her, almost tripping. 

He paused, realizing he was following her towards the woods, and stopped walking, arms folded. Realizing he had stopped following, she halted as well, looking back at him with a soft, hopeful smile.

“No. Until you can promise what you want to go do is safe, I’m not coming with you.” He said, turning on his heel and stomping back inside. 

She let him go, smile gone, and sighed deeply. At least she had tried. She looked back into the woods, walking into them, ripping a low branch off a tree and stripping to to use as a weapon, before venturing deeper in.

–

Mabel swatted at the bushes she passed, scaring a bird or two while she did, and pulling her phone out occasionally to take pictures of something or another. Eventually, she found herself sat on a stump, chin in her hands and bored.

It seemed to be no fun if you didn’t know where to look for magical creatures. Deertaurs sounded awesome, but so far the only magical thing she’d seen was a boar at a distance. She lounged around for a while, finally getting up to head home when the sun began to set. 

She’d been whacking her stick against trees and stuff for a while, when she slammed it against a tree and heard a loud echoing, metallic sound. She paused, eyeing the tree carefully before stepping towards it. She gave it a few hesitant knocks, recreating a slightly duller version of the previous sound. Now interested, she felt the bark, her fingers grazing over raised edges that were different from the normal texture, and digging her nails beneath them. The metal creaked and gave in slightly, budging as she pulled on it. The second pull popped the small door off its hinges and it clattered to the ground.

“How odd…” She mumbled, reaching inside. The changing shadows of midday made it difficult to peer inside of the metal compartment, but her hand landed on a joystick, and she instinctively jostled it. A whirring noise startled her, and it traveled from the tree, down to it’s roots and across the ground behind her. Another compartment, this time embedded in the ground slid open.

She stared at it. For some reason, she really didn’t want to look into it. Dread overcame her and for a second, she considered running off and forgetting about it. But, she had just opened it without thinking, it might as well be looked at.

With the speed of cold molasses, she inched towards the compartment, leaning over dramatically to see inside.

A large, dusty, bound book sat inside, just barely lit by sunlight managing to sneak through the shadow of the trees. She crouched, and pulled the book out, giving a big huff to get off the cobwebs and dust. A cold wind came over her, and while her hands itched to toss the book away, they also tightened around it. She flipped it open, but didn’t get the chance to read it as a crashing through the underbrush startled her. She jammed the book down her sweater- thank god for secret inner sweater pockets, she was such a genius- and backed away from the bushes as the noise got louder.

“Mabel!” Dipper burst through, and Mabel screamed, picking up a stick and pelting it at him in a burst of fear.

“Ow! What the hell?!” He recoiled, grabbing his chafed cheek.

“Oh, Dip, it’s you… You scared me half to death! I thought you were a monster!” She gasped, letting out a nervous laugh as she relaxed.

“You keep suggesting I’m a monster, but you’ve threatened to bite me, thrown a stick at me, and this morning tried to brush the goat-”

“Gompers.”

“Gomper’s fur with my toothbrush!”

“All your spooky monster talk has me on edge! Whatever, what do you want? I thought you didn’t want to come exploring!” 

Dipper gave her an odd look before looking around in mild exasperation.

“Mabel- do you know what time it is? It’s like eight o’clock! I’ve been looking with you along with Soos for like three hours!” 

Mabel just blinked at him and looked up at the trees again. The light that had only been there a few moments ago was now gone and only dim stars flashed in between the shifting leaves. She looked around, noticing her surroundings had suddenly darkened.

“What…?” She breathed, suddenly overcome with a wave of nausea, stumbling back onto the tree from before. Dipper rushed forward to grab and steady her, cautiously eyeing her.

“Mabel, are you okay?” He asked. She wasn’t sure. She was now very aware that the hole in the ground was gone and the metal of the tree behind her had also vanished. She felt like she was going to be sick.


	6. Fairy Hunting

Mabel had, in fact, gotten very sick. Vomiting onto the ground, lucid enough to aim away from Dipper. She was dragged back to the Shack, slipping back and forth between consciousness. Why had she blacked out? How had time passed so quickly and strangely? She couldn’t articulate these questions at first, and allowed herself to be babied and laid down on her bed with an icepack and a trashcan at her bedside.

She couldn’t force herself to sleep. Her nausea had transformed into a fever that burned her whole body and she was beginning to completely forget everything she’d done while out exploring. Why had she gone out? How had she found the book still tucked inside of her sweater? Had it always been there?

She wheezed softly into the dimly lit room, flickering fairy lights mesmerizing her as she dazed. Eventually, she forced herself to sit up, pulling off her sweater with a sigh of relief. Cool air wafted to her now exposed skin, even sifting through her cami to chill the rest of her. She took a moment to pull the book out of her sweater and stared at it again. A four… Five… Six fingered, faded, golden hand was emblazoned on the front, a large, black three painted on it.

She shoved it under her pillow and laid back down, tossing her bedsheet off of her, still sweating badly from the fever, unable to even contemplate reading right now.

Someone knocked on her door, and she grunted for them to come in. Grunkle Stan came in with a cold glass of water and a thermometer, one of many similar visits in the last few hours.

“Hey kiddo, c’mon. One more check before sleep, huh?” He suggested, gesturing for her to sit up. She groaned, but did and he sat next to her on her bed. “Still feverish?”

She nodded as he popped the thermometer in her mouth and he sighed, waiting. It beeped, and he only frowned as he pulled it back out. “A hundred and one… Yep, you’re staying in bed tomorrow too, even if this goes down. I don’t know what happened, but I gotta make sure you don’t get some… Weird infection or something.” He sighed, handing the ice water to her, which she took and gulped down gratefully.

However, his worried look stayed focused on her and she squinted back at him, thinking they were playing a game of who could make the grimmest face. He frowned.

“Mabel.” He said lowly. “You sure you don’t remember anything while you were out? It just… Became night suddenly?”

She nodded again, glancing away as she finished off her drink. She couldn’t possibly tell Stan. He was much too suspicious and… Weird. He looked off into the distance far too much, looked deep in thought too much, was out-of-character too much. 

He hummed softly in understanding, standing up. “Alright then, I suppose. Try to get some sleep. You’ve already taken as much medicine as you’re supposed to, so unless you really need it, don’t go getting anymore…”

He turned to leave but hesitated.

“You know, if something… Unusual happens, you should tell me, right?” He said. However, Mabel sensed something less than comforting in his tone, and bit her lip.

“Yeah… I know.”

–

Mabel felt well when she woke up, only slightly dazed. She was out of bed by noon and fumbling down the stairs to the kitchen to get more water and feed herself. She passed Dipper knocked out on the couch, papers and notebooks around him. She waddled over, picking up one and inspecting it. A summer reading project, and all the papers around him were scribbled on with red ink and highlighters. She giggled placing the paper on his snoring face and going into the kitchen. 

As she ate cereal, she pondered the events before her blackout and fever, finding she just couldn’t seem to keep grip on any memories. She chew throughtfully, stirring the cereal to get mushier. 

“Maybe I imagined it…” She sighed, looking out the window. Movement in the treeline caught her attention and he craned her neck to try and see better. She saw something sparkle and she grinned. Didn’t Dipper say something about fairies. She put her half-empty bowl in the sink and went out into the living room. She very gracefully threw herself onto Dipper’s stomach, startling him awake.

“OUF! Ow! Shit!” He groaned, twitching. She laughed, pulling the paper off his face with a bright smile.

“Can we go find some fairies?” She bubbled, and he stared at her incredulously.

“First of all- Get. OFF! And secondly, no! You’re still sick!” He growled, shoving her off violently. She fell to the ground and rolled onto her back with a long sigh.

“Nu uh! I feel better! Honest, no fever! Just a little groggy! C’mon, you said fairies were okay to see yesterday…” She grumbled, and Dipper sat up, glaring down at her while rubbing his stomach. He sighed and got off the couch, stretching.

“Fine, but only a quick visit. Don’t teach them how to knit grass or the entire forest will lose all it’s shrubbery.”


	7. Dipper Hunting

Mabel and Dipper stomped through the thick undergrowth of the Gravity Falls forest, Mabel having trouble keeping up with her quick-footed and accustomed brother. She spied a few interesting things through the bushes and trees, but instead of being allowed to venture off-path, Dipper snatched her arm and yanked her back the right way. Displeased, she would occasionally step on the backs of his shoes, giving him a nasty glare when his grip was too tight and too pushy.

“Somehow, I’m getting less and less convinced there are fairies the more we walk.”

“They used to be closer, but Soos accidentally swatted one. Now they’re too skittish to come close to the Shack. You wanna bitch, bitch to him.” Dipper grumbled back.

Mabel scowled, following silently after that. He’d gotten so bitter after being convinced to come out with Mabel. He was just pushy and mean, and quite frankly, she was just about up to here with it. Finally, she pulled her arm back away from her brother, jolting him from his army march.

“What?!”

“What is wrong with you?!”

He turned on her, arms on his hips.

“What do you mean what’s wrong with me?”

“I mean-“ She took a deep breath and calmed herself, taking note to lose her aggressive tone and demeanor,”- I mean… Why are you… Can you please not grip my wrist so hard? That’s not a nice thing to do to anyone, let alone someone you should be trying to be nice to.”

Dipper snorted.

“Please, Mabel, I’m not holding you that hard. Sorry I’m irritable, but some of us have school to worry about and I was up late last night. Don’t blame me because nobody wants to come out here for some dumb pixies any-“

Mabel face reddened more and more as he spat at her, and she felt hot tears burn behind her eyes, fueled with frustrated and indignity. 

However, before he could finish, his feet fell beneath him and he slammed into the ground face-first before being dragged swiftly into the bushes, high-pitched screeching piercing Mabel’s ear and making her cover them in pain.

When the screeching stopped, she looked around frantically, stumbling into the bushes, yelling.

“DIPPER? DIPPER!” She called over and over, picking through thick foliage to try and find him. She paused, completely stilled, letting leaves rest around her and listen to the crickets and buzz of the summer air.

Giggling.

Like tinkling snowflakes, cool and airy on her ears, little snowbells that sounded gentle through the hot summer air. She looked up, a faint fading glow in the trees. She moved quietly, following the glow as it glistened from tree to tree, avoiding anything that would make too much noise.

Eventually, she came upon a very small clearing with a large boulder. Dipper’s limp body was sprawled, stomach-down on the top of the rock. Resisting the urge to burst forth and grab him, she inched slowly towards him, eyeing the treeline. She stopped when the tinkling rose in volume, and let it decrease before resuming her progress towards her brother.

It felt like an eternity, but she had finally scaled the side of the boulder and sat next to Dipper. She shook him softly.

“Dipper… Dipper get up… Dipper, please…” She whispered, still eyeing the trees. He groaned, twitching slightly. He then bolted upright, smacking Mabel with a flailing hand and nearly knocking her off the boulder.

Suddenly, the treeline came alive with the bell sounds, and bright colors flashed quickly.

“DippER WHAT’S GOING ON?” Mabel yelled over the almost deafening sound of bells, not all that occupied with the fact that Dipper had just hit her, and Dipper looking at his hand in mild shock and then back to her. He tried to reach out to grab her and protect her, but the bushes exploded and tiny balls of light ran at them. Mabel, instead, threw herself over her brother, crushing him against the boulder, and effectively shielding him from the onslaught on light.

However, impact never came, and moments later, she peeked upwards and saw that the ring of light around them were shimmering, hovering fairies, watching them carefully.

Slowly, Mabel got off Dipper, who took a deep breath of air after getting a mouthful of hair.

Mabel stared at the fairies and they stared back.

“Um… Hello.” She said softly. A blue fairy answered, floating closer and out of the ring of others to address her.

“Greetings, Star.”

Silence again, and Mabel giving the fae a skeptical and bewildered look.

“Yeah… Greets n stuff… Um, did you guys… Steal my brother?” She asked as Dipper got up slowly, rubbing his head with quiet aggravation.

“Yes, Star. We did.” A chorus of ‘we did!’ came from the group of fae and they all giggled in tinkling voices.

“Well, why the hell did you?” Dipper growled, and the fairies all brightened instantly, faces turning grotesque and hissing at him. Dipper squeaked and inched closer to Mabel.

“Because you are a cruel and selfish child.”

“You have never respected us!”

“Trespassed several times!”

“And even crushed homes and precious berry bushes.” The blue one finished.

“Why didn’t you steal her too then?” Dipper grumbled, leaning away from Mabel.

“Because you are not kind to her either. We watched you. You bruise her wrists, then blame her for your bad attitude.” The blue one folded it’s arms, glaring at him.

“Br… Bruised?” He said incredulously, looking back at Mabel and snatching up her hands. Her wrists were, in fact, darkened and irritated. Mabel looked away with a sour expression.

“She also tread softly when coming to retrieve you, rather than fumble through the brush like a moose with leaden feet!”

Dipper stayed silent, angry and embarrassed. He took a deep breath before turning and sliding off the rock.

“Fine, then we won’t come back ever again. You won’t have to worry about having your oh-so-important berry bushes messed with again.”

“WAIT!” Dipper turned, expecting Mabel to be looking at him, but instead he came face to face with the gremlin like face of the leading blue fairy. He jumped back, yelping as he realized the entire horde buzzed quietly in a mob right behind where his head was.

“L-look, Dipper’s an idiot.”

“I’m wh-“

“He’s sad and angry and not very kind to anyone. But he’s scared of you, right? You don’t earn someone’s respect by scaring or hurting them. He’s not going to listen to you if you just throwing him around… Just like…” She took a deep breath, scooting to let her legs dangling on the edge of the boulder,” Like how I don’t respect Dipper just because he hurts me.”

The fairies parted, and the lead fairy slowly floated back to Mabel with a softer face. Dipper stared at Mabel with a surprised and blank look.

“You are very wise, Star. You have earned our respect by showing kindness where it was not deserved. You are welcome any time, but he is not. If he can prove himself more gentle then he may enter our territory, but next time, he will not be returned to you, and we will feast upon his wrath and sins and blood.” The blue fairy explained, Mabel offering a shaky smile.

“Oh… Uh… Thank you… I’ll try to uh… Teach him?… Please try to not… Okay, well, thank you… Sorry about entering your… Territory… We’ll leave now.” She sputtered, sliding off the boulder. The blue fairy laughed, grinning.

“I’m only kidding, Star. We only eat flesh and blood. Oh, and, in case you need it, I am the fae ruler, I am called Retinel.” They giggled, flashing slightly. Mabel paled and nodded quickly, turning and ushering Dipper out of the clearing and into the forest again, fighting off the urge to be sick.

The walk back was silent.


	8. Playing Games

Mabel was just about finished with completely cleaning out her room. She had draped patterned sheets over the junky side of the attic room and hung more fairy lights along with posters, and some shelves that Soos had let her use from his grandmother’s house. She’d asked for the lights from Wendy, and taken command of every box of christmas lights from this attic. She observed the room with pride and relief. It was like her one back home, only more splinters and creaky, wooden floorboards. She flopped down on her bed, laying on her pillow. She cringed as her pillow seemed more stiff than usual. She sat up and moved it.

“Oh… Right…” She mumbled softly at the old journal that was still under her pillow. She must’ve totally forgotten about it. She picked it up and opened it again to the first page. Running her fingers over the crinkled paper, scratching lightly at the hardened ink.

‘A feather pen?’ she thought to herself. The ink was too thick to be normal pen and there were blots that suggested it had dripped. How old could this book be to be written with a feather pen. She frowned at the introductory page, something about research of paranormal happenings in Gravity Falls. She flipped through the pages and was in awe at everything.

Pages of documented creatures and occurrences. Odd items and enchanted bolo ties. She stopped on a page covered in red ink. A silhouette of a triangle with an eye and little arms was the focus of the page. Black writing was scratched out with red ink and in bold letters “CAN’T BE REAL” and “DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS” screamed off the page.

“Bill Cipher…” She murmured and a chill ran down her spine. It seemed to strike a familiar chord in her, but she brushed it off as paranoia.

“Hey, Mabel, do you have a minute?” Dipper opened her door without knocking, looking shaken up, and Mabel nearly screamed in surprise. In a not-so-slick fashion, she stuffed the Journal back under her pillow and whipped around to glare at Dipper.

“Don’t you know how to knock?!” She scowled and Dipper turned red.

“Oh, I… I’m sorry, I thought you were still cleaning… Am I… Interru-”

“Oh my god stop, no, that not… Just what do you want?” She blushed, scowling angrily while Dipper awkwardly shuffled in the doorway. He didn’t say anything for a moment and then cleared his throat, walking in and shutting the door behind him.

“I, uh… Wanted to apologize to you for earlier today.” He began, Mabel now looking at him curiously. “I’ve been very rude to you, and I think I’ve finally gotten past most of my spite. I’m really glad you’re here, and.. Though it was scary, adventuring out there with you was fun. I’m sorry I wasn’t being considerate of your feelings and that I’ve just been all ‘me me me’. I know you sacrificed a lot to come up here, and I’m… Amazed at how much you want to be siblings with me despite everything… So… Yeah…” He finished quietly, looking down at the slightly stained, rainbow rug in front of the door. Moments later he was wrapped in Mabel’s arms, and he didn’t hesitate to hug back. He couldn’t help but begin to cry and Mabel did too.

“I forgive you, bro bro… “ She murmured quietly, pulling away slightly to rub at her eyes and give him a reassuring smile. He laughed hoarsely, cleaning his face too, sniffling.

“Well, this is dumb and sappy… Do you have any more photo albums?” He asked shyly, and Mabel grinned a toothy smile.

–

“Dipper, that’s not how you fold T-shirts.” Mabel scolded him for the hundredth time. Grunkle Stan had insisted that she help out in the gift shop with Dipper, and all day she’d been nagging him on how to order things.

“You aren’t even helping me.” He replied in exasperation, glaring at her. She was sitting at the register with Wendy, playing some card game. She shrugged, not even looking over at him.

“Mabel’s helping me not be bored to death,” Wendy snickered,” Come play with us if you’re gonna be sour about it.” She offered, but Dipper just huffed and turn back to folding shirts.

“What’s with him, he’s so dedicated to helping out here. It’s super boring and the shirts smell like pine sap.” Mabel whispered to Wendy while Dipper straightened the mugs on the shelf.

“Dipper really likes your uncle, he’s been like this ever since he was little. He looks up to him, y’know.” Wendy replied, sighing as he watched Dipper work.

“So, he does everything he’s told?” Mabel said incredulously.

“If it’s what Stan asks, then yeah.”

Mabel thought about how Dipper really did bring up their uncle often. He didn’t go exploring because Grunkle Stan told him not to. He said that Stan made fake attractions to distract the tourists and town-folk. He believed what Stan told him was true, but when she had flipped through that Journal, she wondered how much of it Dipper actually knew about. He’d mentioned deertaurs and fairies, but did he know anything about the actual scary stuff? Did he just assume Stan was right? Sure, it didn’t seem weird at first, but she knew from experience what blindly trusting someone could result in. She sighed and set down her cards.

“I don’t want to play anymore.” She mumbled, hopping off the counter.


	9. Haunting Children Isn't Polite

Mabel shot up with a scream, tears dripping down her face. She panted heavily in the darkness of her room, shaking violently. Outside her window a summer storm raged, remnants of lightning flickered across the sky and heavy rain drops slammed against the glass. She brought her knees up to her chest, hiccuping and digging nails into her blanket and knees. This happened a lot, her night terrors were frequent and unsettling. It’d been a while since she’d had one this bad, and she was trying to steady her erratic heart from it. 

She buried her head in her knees and cried, not just from stress on her mind, but from everything. She’d done a lot in the last week, and she had mostly been on autopilot and pretending she was alright. After a minute of good crying, she laid down again, tugging the blankets over her with soft whimpers. She could not force her eyes to close, she stared widely at the moving shadows in her room, re-living her nightmare. She threw off her blanket, slipping out of bed and frigidly making her way to her door, swinging it open just as another angry crack of lightning and thunder ripped through the air. She ran to Dipper’s room, opening the door with wild fear.

Dipper was sitting up in bed with his lamp on, looking up from his book in genuine surprise as Mabel shut the door behind her and collapsed on the floor. For a moment, Dipper was too taken aback to move, but he shut his book, jumping out of bed and going to Mabel, sitting next to her and pulling her into his arms.

He murmured gentle words to her as she cried into her shoulder. Carefully, he urged her to stand and sat her on his bed, pulling off the comforter and wrapping it around her. When he sat next to her, she flopped over into his lap and continued her tears. He stayed quiet and confused while she exerted herself, staring out his own window at the rain. Mabel had mentioned she sometimes had bad dreams, but whatever it was that had scared her like this must’ve been different.

It took a while, but she had calmed and sat back up. Dipper retrieved kleenex from his desk drawer, handing them to her and scooting back onto the bed. She blew her nose and wiped her eyes, sniffling sadly as her breath evened out.

“You wanna talk about it?” Dipper offered quietly. Mabel pursed her lips and gave a small cough.

“Night terror…” She mumbled.

“Oh… do you remember what happened?” 

She hesitated, but in a quiet voice,” Well… All I can remember is eyes… Eyes watching from everywhere… The fairies were there, but evil and trying to attack me. I kept running and running, but the ground turned into mud and I sank into it… I was drowning and then I was pulled out by a bunch of shadowy hands with claws and… and I thought they were going to rip me apart… I felt so helpless… And guilty… I felt like I belonged there, like it was my fault… And then I could just hear screaming and it wasn’t me… I was so scared… So scared…” She whimpered, rubbing furiously at her eyes. Dipper frowned, brushing her hair out of her face with a sigh.

“I’m sorry Mabel. That sounds awful… Do you want me to get anything for you?” He asked gently.

“Water? I’m all squeezed out, like a dead plant.” She asked weakly. With a nod, he got off the bed, waddling out of his room and heading downstairs. He passed Stan who was in the TV room, watching some old movie.

“Hey champ, what’re you doing up?” He asked tiredly stretching as he stood to follow Dipper into the kitchen.

“Mabel had a really awful nightmare. I’m getting her some water.” He answered as he got a cup from the cupboard. Stan opened the fridge and retrieved a can of Pitt Cola, giving Dipper a curious look as he popped the cap.

“Nightmare? Not surprised, it’s raging out there.”

“Nah, it didn’t sound like it was from the storm. Something about like… Eyes and hands and stuff. Really freaky stuff, she said.” He answered and Stan paused.

“Oh…” Was all he said. Dipper at first didn’t notice his quiet reply, but he glanced at him before walking back out of the kitchen. Before he went back upstairs, he saw Stan turn off the TV with a grim look and head towards his room.


	10. Avoiding Questions

Mabel woke up next to Dipper- or rather, woke up pushing Dipper off his bed. his left side falling off his bed as she sprawled out over the rest of the bed. She groggily scooted away and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She poked her brother softly, smiling at his stupid face that was currently mushed against the bed. As she tried to gently wake him, she recounted why she was there.

‘Right, the nightmare…’ She thought, Dipper finally blinking his eyes open with a small wheezing noise. She shakily got up, standing on the bed. 

“Dippy, uppy up!” She mused tiredly, bouncing a few times. Dipper groaned angrily, sitting up slightly.

“Mmabel… Go away… I’m too tired…” He grumbled before laying back down and immediately snoring. Dissatisfied, but guilty for knowing she might’ve been part of the reason, she climbed over him and got off the bed, waddling out of the room, glancing back his sleeping form before gently shutting the door behind her.

–

Half an hour later, she was dutifully munching on cereal, pouring sprinkles into her bowl, and some into her glass of Mabel-Juice. Stan came in, still in his pyjama’s, and mumbled a tired hello to her, making coffee. When he sat down across from her, Mabel gave him a cheerful smile, mouth full of cereal and sprinkles.

“The hell is that?” He asked from behind his coffee cup, gesturing to her glass with his pinkie.

“Mabel-Juice! It my secret energy mixture.” She replied happily, a sly look in her eyes.

“No wonder you’re boundless energy…” He chuckled. They were quiet again for a while, appreciating quiet company and the hum of morning life outside the window. 

Stan was definitely unusual, Mabel thought. He seemed unfit, but she’d seen him chop wood and lift stuff, so he couldn’t really be out of shape. Also, expressions were confusing. He seemed energetic and pleased, but in reality his eyes led her to believe he was weary and… Something else she couldn’t pinpoint. Some yearning and sad feeling behind his eyes haunted her when he looked at either her or Dipper. She had up until now chosen to ignore it, but his occasional glances at her from his newspaper was unsettling.

“So,” She was broken from her thoughts,” Dipper told me you had a nightmare last night.” Stan set his paper down and tried to sip his coffee inconspicuously.

“Uh, yeah, I did.” She replied, now more awkward. She wasn’t sure where he was going with that.

“What happened in it, exactly?” He pressed, putting his coffee down. Mabel caught that his finger tapped impatiently on the rim of the cup, but the rest of his body said he was curious.

“I… I just dreamed about being attacked by fairies, is all… They looked super freaky, like little gremlins.” She confessed with a light laugh. It wasn’t the whole truth, but she wasn’t lying. His finger stilled and his eyes narrowed. Before he could ask something else, she quickly sputtered out,

“Uh, I was wondering if it was alright by you if I borrowed like… Ten bucks? I need to run out and grab some stuff.” At the mention of using money, Stan cocked an unamused eyebrow.

“What stuff.”

“Well!” She sighed dramatically,” If you MUST know, all girls have this special time of th-”

“Woah, okay fine! I get it, here!” He interrupted, face pink as he got up, heading back out of the kitchen, and returned moments later with a ten dollar bill. Mabel beamed mischievously and snatched the money, bouncing out of the kitchen.

“Thanks Grunkle Stan!” She sang, quickly leaving the house after slipping on her shoes.

–

Mabel’s eyes darted up at the small bell that rang when she opened the door of the small souvenir shop. She remembered the first day she was here, she had come in and asked for a map. She examined the shop carefully. It was neater than the Shack, but still had that rustic and wooden-y theme to it. She spun a rack of post cards and plucked a few, looking over the silly sayings.

“Hey!” She spun and smiled at the familiar face that had just walked from the back room behind the counter. “You’re back! I thought you had been eaten by a bear or something.” Mabel came up to the counter with a giggle as the boy leaned forward on the counter in return.

“Yep! I’m alright. Just been laying down camp for the last week or so. I’m Mabel! And you are… Dan?” She squinted at the smudged name tag and he laughed.

“Yeah, that’s me. You’re camping?” He eyed her oddly, and she shook her head.

“No, I meant like, I was moving into where I was staying. I’m living at the Mystery Shack.” She explained as Dan went to order a few of novelty alcohols on racks behind the counter. He froze for a moment and turned with a confused look.

“The Shack? So thats why you wanted to know where the kid lived?” Mabel nodded. “Why do you get to stay there?” He asked, somewhat eagerly.

“I’m Dippers’ long lost sister!” She beamed, grinning wide. With a smug grin, Dan laughed.

“Shoulda guessed! You look just like him- minus the hat and the silly birthmark.” They both laughed at that and Mabel looked back around the shop.

“So, does the Shack steal your tourists often, or no?”

“I deal with very different stuff, so I wouldn’t worry about it.” Dan replied with a shrug. Mabel snorted at his remark, but didn’t want to ruin his confidence. The shop looked almost identical to the Shack.

“Ah, okay. Ohhh! This it cute!” Mabel’s eyes landed on a necklace hanging on the wall, darting over and pulling it off. It was a small yellow star with a little trail behind of it a few colors. Dan appeared behind her and kept a distance as he looked at it with her.

“It’s yours!” He said happily, and Mabel gasped as she turned around.

“No way! C’mon you don’t have to!” She blushed, but she was smiling.

“Consider it a welcoming gift! Plus, I think it fits you!” He waved his hand, and Mabel gave his arm a pat.

“That’s so sweet, thank you!” Dan just smiled and waved her off again, going back to the counter.

“Just try not to lose it!” And Mabel scowled playfully. 

“Mabel Pines does not lose things! Whatever, I’m off to go explore more. Have a good day, Danny!” She skipped to the door and Dan side eyed her with an amused look.

“Is that so? Have a nice day, kid.”

As Mabel leapt out of the door, the bell above the door tinkling gently, she paused. She got that sickly feeling again, but waved it off as a head rush. It was much warmer outside than in the shop. She headed down the street again, hooking the shooting star necklace around her neck and looking down at it admirably.


	11. Stars

Mabel had bought herself an ice cream with the money she had saved, and was cheerily skipping down the sidewalk, heading back home. She’d spent quite some time mapping out the town and familiarizing herself with the locals. He favorites were Lazy Susan, Tyler, and she had seen Wendy walking around with her friends as well. She was tired, so she elected to wait for the bus rather than walk the mile, and seeing from the sign on the stop that it would be there in about ten minutes. She plopped down on the bench, swinging one leg onto it. Across the street, she eyed a strange looking place.

It was a car dealership with a huge money symbol balloon, but in an empty side of the lot, a large tent was set up, a star symbol above it. The darkening sky made it so she could tell there was light within. Overtaken by curiosity, she got up and wobbled across the street, approaching the tent cautiously. She didn’t want to be caught somewhere she didn’t belong, but the tent flaps waved gently in the breeze and she was just too interested. She spared another look up at the star above the tent and rushed inside.

It was empty of people, but rows of backless, wooden benches we lined in front of a stage, a single mic stand on top. She walked slowly through the small aisle in the middle, finishing up her ice cream. She tossed the ice cream cup once she stepped up onto the stage. Rubbing her foot into the grain, it reminded her of the one at home in school. She used to do dance recitals, but got bored with form and practice. She just liked dancing wildly, and the polished surface of the stage was a bitter, but nice reminder. She wandered to the mic, and tapped it. It popped, surprisingly. Why it was on, she didn’t know.

“Can I help you?” She yelped, knocking the mic stand, and scrambling to catch it before it fell, but the mic itself fell from it’s place holder and crashed to the ground with a harsh crackle.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think, that uh…” She spun around, hugging the mic stand, cheeks pink,” I didn’t think anyone was… Here…” She sputtered, embarrassed.

A boy younger than her stood to the far side of the stage where Mabel could now see had another opening. He was shorter than her, with oddly white hair that was slicked back. He wore a formal, blue suit along with a blue bolo tie. He kinda looked like a kid dressed up by their mom from the 50′s for sunday. He seemed frustrated, and his chubby cheeks were folded in a scowl.

“I don’t much appreciate after hour visitors.” He said as Mabel picked up the mic and put it into place.

“Right, sorry about that… Just exploring, you know? New in town, hadn’t been this way much.” She explained, shaking the mic cord off her foot. The boys face seemed the lighten.

“New in town?”

Mabel nodded.

“So, you live here now?”

“Well, only for the summer. I’m staying with my brother and great uncle. I live at the Mystery Shack.” She’d repeated this many times that day, so she sounded somewhat bored with it.

“Not sure how that old crow Stan could be related to a girl like you.” The boy commented with a softer smile, and Mabel giggled, waving him off.

“Oh please, really. He’s a grump, yeah, but he’s not too bad. I’m Mabel by the- OH MY GOSH, what time is it?!” She began, but immediately realized she needed to be heading home, pulling out her phone. “I’m really sorry, I gotta run!” She said quickly, jumping off the stage and dashing out, but pausing at the entrance. “Sorry about the mic! Hope it didn’t like… Break!” And then she disappeared, leaving the boy in bewilderment. 

She ended up having to walk home. She felt like she was being followed the entire way.

–

“So, Danny, what is an 11-letter word for ‘close to, but not exact’.”

“Approximate.”

Mabel scribbled the answer in on her word puzzle, and then sighed, looking up to Dan, who was currently checking out a customer.

“Thank you ma’am, that’ll be 13.95$.” He said coolly, and looked back at Mabel as he took the woman’s card. “Something wrong, kid?”

“Yeah, just disappointed. Dipper said he would come adventuring with me today, but instead he’s out with Stan helping him do inventory or something. He never has time for me!”

Dan nodded a thank you to the woman who’d paid and watched her go before turning to Mabel and leaning back against the counter. Mabel was seated on a stool behind the counter that Dan had pulled out for her.

“Sounds lame. Maybe you need new friends? Have you met any of the kids around here?”

“Not really. I ran into some… Baby kid yesterday, but I’d rather hang out with someone actually my age! And probably a girl…” She sighed, closing the sudoku book.

“Well, maybe then you should go find someone new to hang out with. Dipper doesn’t sound like much fun, anyways. What good’s a brother who only wants to hang out with his uncle?” He chuckled and Mabel laughed softly in return.

“I guess so… Say, do you know any other kids around here?”

“I don’t follow children, Mabel.”

“You knew where my brother lived?”

“That’s different, we all know where he lives.” He rolled his eyes, but Mabel gave him a skeptical look anyways.

“I guess I’ll go wander around some of the neighborhoods. Got a bike?”

“Not one small enough for you. Get some exercise, work up some muscle.” He laughed, ushering her off the stool and around the counter.

“Rude! Are you telling me I’m fat, Daniel?”

“No, I’m saying you’re skinny, and you’re no good skinny. Go make friends, kid.” He laughed, opening the door for her. Mabel stuck her tongue out at him, but went out anyways.

She hoped she didn’t have to look around very long.


	12. Words From Beyond

Mabel watched through chain-link fence at the playground. Quite a few kids were running around playing, some even her age were chatting by drinking fountains. She wanted to go in and be social, but she had been overcome with sickness again, feeling irritable and unwanting of anything of the sort. She looked to the ground in frustration. As lonely as she was, she didn’t want to talk to anyone, and it confused her. She felt nauseas and like she was getting a headache, so she absent-mindedly rubbing her forehead with a frown.

“Hello!” 

Mabel squeaked and cursed. What the hell was with people catching her off guard? She looked up and shied away from the two people now in front of her. A chubby girl with bright eyes and hair pulled into a ponytail, and a smaller asian girl with big glasses. They stood on the other side of the fence, watching Mabel with concern.

“Are you okay?” The larger girl asked in a gruff voice.

“I… I just…” She stuttered, the nausea getting worse.

“You look pale, are you going to be sick?” The asian girl said worriedly, looking down the fence line at the gate.

“I’m o-okay, I just… Urk…” She covered her mouth, getting dizzy as she stepped back and turned, running back down the street. 

Her head throbbed and she had to stop to lean against a wall and empty her stomach. She collapsed onto the concrete and scowled that it was all over her shoes and ankles. Her stomach lurched again and she threw up off the curb. She pulled out her phone shakily, punching in the number for the Shack phone. Stan answered.

“You’ve reached the Mystery Shack, home of-”

“Gr-grunkle Stan, I’m throwing up and I can’t get home.” She coughed, tears pricking her eyes as another wave hit her.

“Where are you?” His voice was grave and worried.

“By the park.” The phone clicked to hang up and she vomited once more, reaching up and clutching her star necklace to keep from hanging in the way. By the time Stan got there, she was being fanned by Lazy Susan who had come across her on her walk home, and her grip on her necklace had caused the tips of the star to cut into her hand.

–

Soft tinkling of a music box filled Mabel’s room, now a rosy-lit space from her fairy lights. Dipper sat on the floor, reading, occasionally glancing up to look at Mabel’s softly breathing form under her covers with worry. Something had to be wrong with her. Stan seemed so upset that she was sick again in such a short period of time. Dipper had tried to reassure him that she just didn’t get over it entirely the first time, but Stan was not comforted. Dipper had been ordered to sit in with Mabel to make sure nothing else happened while she was alone.

“Dipper…” Mabel murmured quietly from beneath her sheets.

“Yes?” Dipper replied readily, shutting his book.

“I want to show you something.” She sat up shakily and pushed off her sheets. She reached under her pillow and pulled out the Journal, Dipper standing up with genuine interest.

“What is that?” He asked, sitting next to her.

“I found this in the woods. The time I got sick and couldn’t remember the time? I found this and it’s… Weird. It talks about all these supernatural things in the woods… I’ve been so pushy to go out because I wanted to see if they were true…” She handed the book to him and he flipped through with wide eyes.

She watched him carefully, flipping through the book and running a distressed hand through his hair. He seemed now really upset.

“All these years… You just… STUMBLED, upon something like this? When I have been in these woods for… My god, it has so much in here…” He continued to mumble in disbelief, landing on the page that was still fresh in Mabel’s memory.

“That has to be dramatic effect red ink, right…?” Mabel offered as Dipper squinted at the page.

“Can’t be real… Do not summon? What is it? A demon?”

“Yeah, it says it right there.”

“Oh, look at that. What a lame demon if it’s a triangle with an eye, pff..” Dipper laughed, and Mabel did too, only slightly harder. Now THAT was funny.

“So, I was hoping… This could just be us, y’know? I know you trust Stan with everything, but I wanted to just have something me and you could do… You may not like to do scary stuff but, I think it’ll be worth it to check out the stuff you haven’t before…” Mabel offered, pulling the book from Dipper’s lap and closing it. He looked like he wanted to steal it from her, but kept his hands to himself.

“I don’t know… This sort of thing is kinda strange. This book may be old, but if theres someone else out there with what seems like more knowledge than me or Stan…”

“Dipper, this book has to be like, 30 years old at least.” She snorted. “Whoever wrote it, isn’t here anymore.”

Dipper spent a moment to think before taking a deep breath.

“Okay. Just us.”

–

_‘How sweet…’_


	13. Doubting Those Who You Trust

“Mabel, hand me that screw driver, the one right- yeah, thanks.” Mabel scooted the red screwdriver towards Danny, who’s hand was currently within the slightly dismantled cash register. He stuck in his other hand with a concentrated face, twisting something around until there was a quiet click. He hummed pleasantly and carefully pulled his hands out.

“So?”

“Just a loose screw in the drawer slider.” Mabel nodded with a smile of triumph, handing him a lollipop from her bag of goodies that she was snacking on. He took it with a grin of appreciation and unwrapped it, popping it in his mouth as he started to put the register back to normal. “Sho, how’sh the deadbea’ brother?” He asked around the sugary treat. Mabel beamed, thumping her feet against the counter.

“Great! We, uh, talked last night, and I think we understand each other better now! I hope this is just one of many good steps forward.” She sighed with relief. Danny frowned and side-eyed her as he popped the cash tray into place.

“Hm… Don’t get your hopes up.” He said, pulling out the lollipop.

“What? Why?” She said, smile faltering.

“Siblings are always like that. Especially ones like him. One minute, they agree with everything you think you should do, and the next, you have to throw them out because they never really wanted what you wanted.” He stated matter-of-factly. Mabel frowned and stared down at her candy in thought.

“Do you have a brother?”

“Something of a sort. He’s not here anymore though.” Danny replied evenly, popping his lollipop in his mouth. Mabel was about to ask about his strange wording before the door rang and opened.

“There she is! I told you she was in here!” It was the two girls that Mabel had seen at the park a couple days ago. The larger girl walked in, the small asian girl following after. Mabel turned pink with embarrassment. Oh god, she had totally embarrassed herself in front of them.

“We’ve been looking for you!” The small girl chirped.

“Y-you have?”

“Yeah! We wanted to tell you we liked your sweater, but you ran off looking sick!” The other replied.

“It was very cute!”

“O-oh, well… Thanks! I make all my sweaters!” Mabel said proudly, her nervousness fading.

“Woah! That’s so COOL!” The big girl squealed, bouncing slightly. “I’m Grenda, this is Candy!” Candy waved as Grenda gestured to her and Mabel giggled.

“I’m Mabel, this is my frie-”

“Don’t worry about it Mabel. Go hang out with someone else for a while.” Danny interrupted quickly, nodding towards the girls, who giggled and blushed.

“Oh… Okay? Well, then, I will.” Mabel said, slightly confused before hopping off the counter and handing Grenda her bag of candy. “You guys can have some, by the way! Know anything cool we can go do?”

The two girls looked to each other with knowing looks before grabbing Mabel and dashing out the door with happy laughter. Danny watched them go, snorting with amusement.

–

Mabel was in awe. It had turned out that the oddly well-dressed boy from the other day ran some sort of magic show called the Tent of Telepathy. He was some sort of reality show, cheesy nonsense kid, but Mabel found it amusing anyways. His tricks were obvious- she had a magic trick phase herself- but she did find herself genuinely surprised at some of the things he could do. Mostly levitation stuff that she couldn’t seem to see the strings for, and at one point, he made everyone in the audience stand- even though Mabel really didn’t make herself stand on her own.

By the end of the show, she was tickled by the performance, and was walking out with Candy and Grenda, but heard her name called before they got out into the evening air. She turned to see the large white-haired boy quickly coming after her. Candy gave her a playfully suggestive nudge, but Mabel was confused. She didn’t remember telling him her name.

“Mabel! Ah, I’m glad to catch you before you ske-daddled out!” He said somewhat breathlessly.

“Mabel, we will catch up with you outside, okay?” Candy giggled, grabbing Grenda and darting outside. Mabel cursed them under her breath, but turned back to the younger kid.

“Haha, well, I didn’t expect you’d… Want to talk to me!” She admittedly, slightly uncomfortable.

“Well of course! Anyone with a sweater such as that is definitely a someone I’d want to make the acquaintance of.” He laughed as she glanced down. It was her favorite sequined sweater with the words ‘WOW’ and ‘CUTE’ applied on with sparkle puff-paint. 

“Oh, well thanks! I make all my sweaters myself- I’m crafty like that!” She said with a hint of pride and the boy laughed again in his… Unsettlingly cute way.

“How amazing! Well, I was actually hoping to ask you if you were, Idunno, busy at all this week? I was planning to have a little get-together, and was wondering if you’d be interested in attending!” He explained, smoothing out his suit nonchalantly.

“Wow, uh, that’s really nice of you Gideon, but, uh… I was actually planning to hang out with my brother.” She excused, and Gideon eyed her carefully.

“Dipper?”

“Yeah…”

“But I didn’t hear about him havin’ a sister.” He scoffed slightly.

“Well, he didn’t know about it either… Look that’s uh… Not really your business anyways…” Mabel said, looking away and rubbing her arm. It was silent and she knew it came off harsher than she’d meant. “I mean, it’s not something I like to talk about, so… Sorry, Gideon, I guess I’ll see you around.” She avoided his eyes still as she quickly turned and rushed out.

She found Grenda and Candy and immediately wacked them both on the arms for abandoning her. As they walked away, she glanced back to see Gideon still standing in the entrance, back-lighted by the lights from inside. But her eyes were drawn back to the star atop the tent, and she shivered. Her hand found it’s way to her shooting star necklace and she turned back.

~~

_“How rude.”_


	14. One Mind Awful As The Other

_“What are you doing here.”_

_“What? I belong here.”  
_

_“You’ve never belonged anywhere. Especially not here. Not with me. Not with him. You know that, don’t you?”  
_

_“Who are you?”  
_

_“Look in the mirror, kid.”  
_

_–_

“Mabel wake up!” Dipper chirped loudly from beside his sister’s bed. His face was bright and smiling, but when Mabel’s eyes creaked open, she was not as pleased to see him and he was to see her. 

“Mhym… Dipper…?” She grumbled, sitting up slowly.

“Okay so I found something wild this morning and it’s like… Eight-” He glanced at the watch on his hand,”- and I want to show you it! Get up!” He patted her bed harshly before bouncing out of the room like a giddy colt. She sat up, rubbing the sleep and last of her dream from her eyes, taking a moment to stare into the wood grain on the wall. She felt sore, and her head throbbed like she’d slept on it weird. But still, she got up, because what a rarity that Dipper was thrilled to be getting her attention.

She wobbled towards the door, glancing in the mirror as she passed, squinting as the sun glinted through the window and shot back off the mirror into her eye. She tried to follow her brother’s loud excited noises in the house. He was running around whooping. When she reached the stairs, he was there in a flash, intertwining his hand with hers and dragging her downstairs. 

“It’s amazing! I looked through that Journal you found-”

“Dipper, not so loud, and stop yanking me!” She barked, ripping away as they got into the kitchen, puffing her cheeks at him moodily. He chuckled and shrugged before turning to the counter where the Journal sat along with a slightly shaking cardboard box.

“I found this thing called a Arkan Sonney- it’s on like page 237 or something, but it means Lucky Piggy, and look at it!” He pulled down the box and gently opened the box. 

Mabel frowned at him but peered inside, where two large red eyes stared back. Mabel recoiled with a small squeak.

“Oh my god, it’s eyes are scary…” 

“Well, yeah, but the rest of it is cute, but it doesn’t like the light much and it can fly… But here.” He opened the box all the way and the light shimmered off what appeared to be a white hedgehog with delicate light pink wings. Mabel fell in love with it instantly, despite it’s eerie stare.

“OH MY GOSH, IT’S SO CUTE!!!” She squealed, immediately snatching up the small creature, which squealed in return.

“Mabel, wait! Don’t scare it-”

But the Sonney had wiggled from her hands and fluttered up into the air, disorientedly flying around with sounds of mild distress.

“Shoot! Stan is gonna be home any minute, Mabel!” Dipper cried, trying to grab the animal. 

“Wa-addles come back to mommy!” Mabel joined in, more enjoying the situation than Dipper.

“Waddles? In five seconds you’ve named it?”

“Yes! And he will be my little friend- gotcha!” Her hand caught hold on the flying pig, and it squealed as she pulled it down and tucked it beneath her sleep gown and out of the light.

“Mabel you can’t keep him, just showing! We have to put him back!” Dipper groaned.

“I can do whatever I want! It’s my Journal, and hey! You’re always reading and I can’t talk to Danny EVERY day!” Mabel pouted.

“I have summer read- wait, Danny?” Dipper paused, giving her a strange look.

“Yeah, the guy at the gift shop right by the bus stop on Main.”

“Uh… Nobody who works there is named Danny, there’s only the owner, who’s a middle aged dude. Well, I didn’t think anyone else worked there…” He mused.

“Oh, maybe he started working there just before I got here.” Mabel reasoned, but that did give her a feeling unease. 

“Maybe… Well, if he’s new competition for the Shack, then I should meet him. Better we ske-daddle with the fairy pig before Stan gets home anyways.”

–

“Da-anny! You here?” She called, matching the tune of the bell above the door, Dipper stretching his head inside with an overly-suspicious look.

“Mabel! What up, little la-” Danny leaned out of the back room with a big grin, but froze when his eyes landed on her brother. “Oh.”

“Morning, hope you don’t mind I brought company.” She proudly pulled her brother into the shop like presentation.

“No… That’s, fine…” The older teen replied evenly, walking out and sitting behind the counter.

“Can I steal something today?” Mabel mused sweetly, batting her eyes. Danny pulled his eyes from the boy who was surveying him like he was an overheated engine leaking gas.

“Why not, go ahead, Shooter.” He tried to sound cheery, but a dark, repressed tone was hidden under it, though Mabel barely noticed. While Mabel hopped away to peruse, Dipper leaned against the counter with one arm and a narrowed look.

“So. Danny. When did you move here?”

“Before you were born.” He replied coldly, earning a confused look.

“What? How come I’ve never seen you before?”

“I didn’t need a job before.”

“That doesn’t mean anything about not knowing you existed.”

“Is that how you feel about Mabel?” He snapped back, quickly losing patience Dipper didn’t realize he was even losing. It took the young boy aback, the level of hate and negativity in Danny’s eyes.

“Pardon me?” He snorted.

“Not knowing she existed? I knew before you, does that bother you?” An almost childish tone of mockery rose, and Dipper gaped indignantly.

“Sorry, but not really? Who even are you, why do you talk to a girl at least five years younger than you?”

Danny leaned towards Dipper with a nasty stare.

“I am much older than both of you, and if you don’t want to get kicked out, you’d hold your bratty tongue, Pines.” He snapped, but before Dipper could retort, Mabel returned and dropped a shirt on the counter.

“I’ll take this today!”

Danny’s posture shifted, like a rose film had wafted over him and he smiled charmingly, taking the shirt.

“That’s fine, Star. Why don’t you two head home, huh? I gotta lunch break in a couple of hours if you’d like to visit again. But uh, I hope it doesn’t bother you to ask you come by yourself? Boss doesn’t like much loitering, you know.” Danny said quick and coolly, and to Dipper’s surprise and humiliation, Mabel laughed and gave the guy a sly look, oddly imitating the same evil glint for just half a second.

“I understand. Dipper’s pretty difficult. You can come over too, if you’d like. C’mon DipDop, I’m hungry for icecream!” Mabel, like a robot almost, grabbed his wrist, took the shirt back, and dragged Dipper out.

‘What the hell just happened’ was all Dipper could think.


	15. Alienated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys- I'm sorry I havent updated in months and this is SUPER short but I've been so ridiculously busy and haven't really figured out a flawless way to execute my plans for the fic, but I'm just gonna roll with what I've got. Thank you so much for all your patience, and please look forward to future chapters- this is only the beginning!

Sitting in silence in the ice cream parlor felt strange. Dipper watched his sister dig into her mint and strawberry swirl ice cream and tap away on her phone. She, more than this morning, felt so alien to him. Was what happened at the strange gift shop earlier in any way connected to something bigger? She had never let anyone be that obviously hostile or turned a blind-eye; she had been oddly notorious for hearing just about every and anything that was said about their family, but this time she had been completely oblivious. Earlier yesterday, Robbia had said something impolite about Dipper's ears, and Mabel, when everyone thought she was upstairs knitting, swung around the corner and sling-shot him a new one on the back of his head. Robbie would have chased her if Wendy hadn't stopped him and kicked him out.

Now, she seemed disconnected- not because she was on her phone or eating, but rather in the way her eyes would focus on him or anything else. It was less prominent now that they had left the store, but she blinked so often, and seemed to twitch oddly. It sent up red flags like crazy.

"Dipper?" Mabel spoke suddenly.

"Oh- yeah?" He replied, stuffing some half-melted chocolate ice cream in his mouth.

"I was thinking- we should have a party. Like, to introduce me better to everyone, and just 'cause parties are fun!" She looked at him and the haze from earlier was gone, her normal, big smile and wondrous eyes back.

Dipper hesitated. A party? Stan had never really been fond of them. They were too loud for him, plus he really didn't like kids unless they were giving him money. 

"Maybe... We'll have to run it by Stan." Mabel made a raspberry noise, but ate another spoonful of ice cream anyways.

Some part of him felt like it was a really bad idea, but... He really wanted Mabel to feel better and not be whatever it was she was earlier. Maybe a party would be good for all of them.

* * *

 

_"Finally~"_


	16. Apocaparty

"A party?" Grunkle Stan grumbled. Both twins stood in front of the old man with hopeful eyes, and he scratched his stubbly chin in thought. "Well... I dunno'... Throwing a party could damage the shop... Be expensive..." He thought aloud.

"You could have an entrance fee!", Mabel offered bouncing up to sit on Stan's knee with a piece of paper. She unfolded it and showed him a drawing of the exhibit floor, rearranged to be a party room, dance floor and everything. He sat forward, ruffling her hair as he scrutinized the marker drawing.

"Mabel thought it would be a good way to... Adjust to the town. That way she doesn't have to be out all day trying to introduce herself. Like she has been and... Y'know, not get sick in the process." Dipper explained further, leaning on the arm rest. Stan narrowed his eyes at them both for a long moment. Then sighed.

"Alright, alright, you two can have a party. But I get to choose the entrance fee and drinks and stuff." He grumbled, leaning back into his chair. Mabel lit up and tackled him in a hug.

"Oh- thank you, thank you, thank you!" She buzzed happily before leaping off of him and running back upstairs. Dipper and Stan watched her go, both with a sense of tired fondness. Stan went to unpause the TV, but Dipper put his hand on his and turned to him with a stern look. Stan cocked a brow.

"Something's up with her. She's made a friend with this creepy dude at a giftshop in town, and I went with her this morning to see him and get ice cream. This guy straight up _threatened_ me." He said seriously, taking his hand back and running it through his hair. "He went from being all chummy to Mabel to acting like he was gonna grab my by the collar like some... Greaser, 80's movie."

Stan paused, eyes slowly trailing away in thought.

"I'll keep an eye on her then. Make sure she doesn't go see him too often... How old is this guy anyways?" Stan asked, genuinely concerned.

"He's like, at least twenty." Dipper said in a tone of mild horror and disgust. Stan's eyes widened, and he took on an appearance of an angry bear.

"Some twenty-something creep is hanging around my niece!?" He sat up angrily. Dipper gestured wildly, relieved and equally exasperated at the thought.

"I know?! My thoughts exactly! And she wants to invite him to the party!" Dipper admitted as Stan got up and began to stomp to the stairs.

"Not if I have a word in it!"

\--

"Mabel, Stan wasn't trying to say you couldn't have any friends at the party, just not-"

"I don't care! Danny is the only person who's genuinely liked my company the whole time I've been here!"

Dipper thumped his head against the bathroom door, Mabel's muffled angry crying coming through the thin, wooden door.

"Mabel, he's probably in _college_. He shouldn't even be hanging out with kids your age!" Dipper reasoned.

"You hang out with Wendy all the time!"

"Mabel, Wendy is a family friend and barely three years older, that is totally different." Dipper groaned, gently twisting the bathroom knob despite it not budging.

"I don't care! I want him there! If he isn't, I don't want a party!"

Dipper felt his gut twist. Why the hell was this guy so important to her? It was creepy as all hell- what if he was... Preying on his sister? Dipper felt the hairs on his neck stand on edge. Oh god, what if he was grooming her...

"Then there's no party! Because there is no way I am letting some-"

The door flung open and Mabel stood there, eyes wild and burning. Dipper was taken aback by just how different she looked from her first week in town. Her skin was more ashen, she seemed more on edge and strange, and she had been unusually out of character in general. She got in Dipper's face, who stumbled backwards to avoid her head-butting him.

" _You don't control what I do, Dipper!_ " She snarled, shoving him onto the ground, heaving. Dipper fell backwards, in a state of pure shock as she stormed past him and into her room, slamming the door with an excess amount of force.

She _had_ to be possessed.

\--

Dipper rubbed his temples as Stan paced the kitchen, staring at the party plans with worry.

"Dipper, we can't let her have it- obviously there's something else going on with this guy and her. I _refuse_ actively give him any access to her." Stan sternly reaffirmed his position, like he had the past hour.

"Grunkle Stan, I can't go confront him on my own, it's dangerous. If I confront him in a crowd- if he is some supernatural creature- I have a higher chance of _not_ being eviscerated." Dipper countered.

"So? If we just cut off the connection, he won't even be a problem anymore, then!" Stan insisted.

"What? And let him prey on some other underage girl? No way! Stan, we have a chance to deal with this for real, and you're just gonna take a cowards' route?!" Dipper spouted, face getting pink in anger. Stan sat next to him at the table and put a hand on his back.

"Dipper- your parents... They trusted me to keep her and... You... Safe. I can't let him in the house." Stan slowed down and tried to explain.

Dipper relaxed and rubbed his cheek to calm himself. He understood his uncles' perspective, but he couldn't just let this guy... Thing... Off scot-free!

"Then he won't. I'll confront him outside. We'll just use the party as an excuse to get him here, and then not let him in. You just keep Mabel distracted so she doesn't notice he's not here." Dipper explained, pulling the party plans in front of him with a sigh.

Stan frowned, looking away for a moment. 

"Okay. Party is on. You sure you can handle whatever he is?" Stan asked genuinely, worried.

Dipper scoffed, giving Stan a look.

"I'll be fine. Whatever he is, is no match for a Pines."

* * *

_"That's fuckin' hysterical."_

 


	17. Demon Dreaming

Mabel had been thrilled to hear she got her way. She danced around the house, eagerly setting up party decorations, even though it was not until the next evening. Dipper felt antsy, but helped her pin up streamers and lights in the showroom. Stan had cleared the space many years ago to house any temporary attractions, like a mirror maze, or host any parties to promote business. The room before, had been a place where Dipper could come and lay in the middle of the floor, and star at the ceiling for hours, just thinking.  
Now it felt more like, if he were to lay on the floor, the room would seal up like a coffin, and plunge underground.  
Nevertheless, Dipper helped Mabel, because she was his sister, and she was happy, and because his elbows still hurt from being pushed down before.

"There! All done!~ Everyone will love it." Mabel chimed happily, hopping off her ladder and dusting off her hands, "Look- it was so dusty in here that I look like a ghost!" She laughed, gesturing to the dust sprinkled on her skirt and sweater.

Yeah, Dipper thought, like a ghost.

-

The whole next morning, Dipper felt watched. More than usual, anyways. He almost always had an uneasy sense that eyes followed him wherever he went, but he hadn't felt them this strongly since he was little. Now, however, it felt like every mirror hid a figure, and ever corner had something waiting to pounce. He found himself more skittish, and nearly burst into tears just that morning when Mabel tripped on the carpet and skinned her elbow.  
He was sure it was because he knew Danny was going to be there.   
Mabel had ran off at first light, arm full of party invites, and had returned after pinning them to every door in town. That included the door to Danny's gift shop.  
Dipper tried to figure out which was a worser conclusion:   
That Danny was a supernatural creature preying on his sister, or  
Danny was a normal guy- _preying on his sister_.

He tried not to think about it. Instead, he spent his time during the late morning and afternoon, cooped up in his room, scanning the Journal, trying to see if there was any information he hadn't known before.

Some stuff about the gnomes had been new; a list of a couple of the previous gnome queens, their food sources, a (presumably) accurate map of their most frequented areas, including their base camp. He'd even discovered exactly why he'd never been able to _find_ a unicorn. It was more of a ritual thing to summon the darned beasts, and Dipper mourned the hours wasted walking around the forest looking for them.

Eventually, he came across the page he'd discussed with Mabel when she'd first showed him. The black triangle stared back at him, eye impaling his head with it's stare.   
The feeling of unease that he had been trying to ignore, suddenly amplified, and after a few moments of being hypnotized, squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head, and slammed the book closed. That was enough reading for today.

" _That was a bit rude- I didn't think you'd take such an offense to me so quickly._ "

Dipper screamed, eyes flinging open, and he threw the Journal wildly as he scooted back on his bed, looking around wildly. He felt his heart lurch as he took in his surroundings.  
Nothing had color anymore- everything was monotone and gray, and a suffocating stillness washed over Dipper. Things in the room, pencils and paper on the ground, random clothes, his jacket on his desk chair, seemed to glitch ever so slightly in and out of reality.

" _Relax kid- it isn't me you should be so flipped out over quite yet!_ "

A line split the air, and in a burst of light yellow flame, popped open to form into a triangle, eye snapping open in it's middle. A tiny bowtie and hat materialized slowly, and the triangle's tiny arms stretched out, a cane materializing in hand, spinning it.  
" _But, I appreciate your aforementioned fear._ " The triangle laughed- or at least Dipper was sure it was the triangle.

"Y-you're... You're the- the demon! In the Journal!" Dipper pointed to the Journal that was now sprawled on the floor, and the triangle's eye followed, blinking at it.

" _Ahaha, yep, that sure was me, kiddo!_ "

"B-but... It said to not s-summon you! I didn't summon you!"

" _Weird- it's almost like the guy who wrote that thing could've been wrong! But no time to question your lack of logic or deep thought, I have something for you that I don't normally do!_ "

Whatever this thing was, Dipper noted, it seemed to scream everything it said.

"Wh... What's that?"

" _A warning._ " 

The triangles tone of voice lowered, and it's eye narrowed threateningly. Dipper felt his skin crawl, and had to avert his eyes to the thing's bowtie because it felt like it was staring into his soul.

"A-about what?"

" _You're sister. Now, don't get me wrong by this, in the future, I want to hang you and your whole family's mangled corpses on a flagpole, attach it to a hotrod, and pretend I'm a- what's it called? Ah, yeah! Horseman of the Apocalypse, slaughtering all of humanity, however..._ " It paused, leaning on it's cane, mid-air.  
" _Someone else is trying to do that before me! And if there one thing I hate more than your puny little universe, it's someone stealing my thunder!_ "

Dipper stared at the triangle- what was it's name? Bill?- in bewilderment and horror, completely confused.

"S-someone... Else?"

" _Yep! Specifically, a certain jackass that I've got a lo-ong history with! A long story, really- almost a 'romance', that is-"_ the triangle laughed, _"- if I could even feel something as petty and pathetic as 'romance'! He's more like a pain in my ass._ "

Dipper looked around slowly. Someone that a demon had a grudge with was threatening Mabel?  
And then it clicked.

"Do... Do you mean Danny?"

" _Danny? Is that the cover name he picked? Holy shit- that's hysterical! Once I kick his ass, I'm gonna call him that for all of eternity!_ " Bill laughed, eye tearing up slightly. " _Whatever he calls himself now- he's a real threat! If he weren't such a whiny bitch, he'd be more like me! Regardless, kiddo, keep an eye out for him, will ya'? You'd be doing me an awful big favor if you got rid of him!_ "

"Wh-what? You just said that you wanted to annihilate humanity? Why would I do you a favor?" Dipper snapped exasperatedly, not liking Bill's casualness with what he was saying.

" _Oho, yes, that's for sure. I definitely would love to peel human skins like bananas, however, I can't do that if that five-headed jerk gets around to the Portal before I do! Not to mention- your sister._ "

Dipper's voice caught in his throat. So it _was_ Danny; the guy really was a supernatural creep. Part of him was almost glad he wasn't dealing with some normal, pedophilic dude.

"So... What do I do?"

" _Ha! Look, Im doing you a favor by just telling you! How you want to get rid of him is up to you. I just suggest you do it before your sister becomes a brain-dead zombie tonight! Later kid!_ " Bill snickered, and Dipper jumped up.

"W-wait!"

" _Hope to see you soon, kiddo! I'll promise to make your death less painful! Ha! No I don't!_ "

Dipper tried to stop him, but the Bill began to glow brightly, and in a flash of bright light, Dipper had lost a few moments of consciousness. When his eyes snapped back open, only a few moments later, he was no longer standing in the middle of his room. Rather, he was lying on his side, on his bed, the Journal open next to him to Bill's page. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked around his room. Color again. His eyes found the Journal again, and he found the presence within, and the presence that had been following him, had completely disappeared.

He wanted to freak out over how a demon had just warned him about something presumably worse, or just as bad as them, but he had a plan to make.  
A plan to help his sister.


	18. Snooping with Sonneys

Surprisingly- Dipper had no ideas.

It wasn't that Dipper was incapable of handling supernatural beings and their usual tyranny- he just had no idea what he was dealing with. Bill had not explicitly stated what Danny was, or what he wanted. Dipper supposed that it was the same as Bill, as the demon had alluded, but Dipper couldn't fathom how Danny could use Mabel to annihilate all of humanity. She was just a fourteen year old girl, and while rather tough and smart, not exactly apocalypse-bringing material.

He decided to snoop Mabel's room while she was out, presumably to find Danny. He wanted to follow, but he was scared of being away from the Shack to confront something unearthly, so he just slipped into Mabel's fairy-light lined room after he heard the back door downstairs slam shut.

He stood with her door behind him for a minute, just scanning the room.  
'You aren't being creepy', he assured himself,' you're just trying to find any clues as to what Danny is, and what Mabel does in her room for hours, blasting music.'

He started with just the portion of the room behind curtains, peeking behind at the mess, deciding nothing looked like it had been touched since Mabel first got there. He moved to her bed, flipping the covers, he pillow, and checking between it and the wall. Nothing but a bunch of candy wrappers, glittery pens, and-

Something bit his hand behind her bed, and he let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeal, retracting it quickly. After a moment of nursing the irritated skin, he climbed off the bed, pulled it back a bit, and hesitantly crawled back on, peering into the larger gap.

Bright red eyes stared back, and for a moment, Dipper thought it was a gremlin- but it was too small, and a quiet hum emanated from the shadowed space.

"Waddles?" He asked awkwardly, and the fairy pig chirped back. He breathed with relief- not a gremlin. "Where have you been, little guy? Has Mabel been acting weird towards you too?" He soothed, slowly reaching down and scooping him up, bringing the pale creature against his chest. It hummed loudly, seemingly happy to have a more affectionate touch than before. He spent a while cuddling the small creature, rubbing it's small nose before setting it on Mabel's pillow. It chirped at him as he got up and moved the bed back into place.

"So, tell me Waddles- have you seen anything weird in Mabel's room?", Dipper asked absentmindedly. "Like... Her drawers?", Nope, just socks. "Under her bed?" Only plastic boxes with knitting supplies and tons of yarn.  
Every other nook and cranny seemed normal, and very in-character for Mabel, and he was starting to feel a bit guilty for snooping since he'd found almost nothing. Waddles stared at him from the bed, flittering his wings every few moments, and Dipper stared back with an unsatisfied frown.

"Maybe I'm just... Not looking in the right places... What would Mabel even have that could be of concern?" He thought aloud, sitting back on the bed, and putting his chin in his hands in defeat.

Think, Dipper, he told himself, you're sister's life depends on it. What was it that Bill had disclosed? Danny was something extremely dangerous, akin to a demon like Bill, was trying to do something that could tear the universe a part, and was going to turn his sister into a zombie. 

Turn his sister into a zombie. Dipper rolled this thought around in his head like sour candy. How could Danny turn her into a zombie? She seemed to already be acting extremely off, so whatever it was, it was probably already happening. It couldn't be mind-control, because the user had to have a direct line of contact or be within a close vicinity for that to work- too many encounters with vampires, and Gideon's shenanigans. 

Then he hit himself on the head, because Danny _did_ have a direct line of contact, something he could have enchanted to hold the connection. Mabel had acquired a necklace sometime between the first time she met Dipper, and after she ran off to explore her first day being settled in. Danny must have given it to her as a gift, and that was most likely the connection. He got up and looked over to Waddles, who was still staring at him.

"You hungry little buddy?" Dipper asked, picking up the sonney, who chirped excitedly at the mention of food. He might as well, considering nobody would probably be paying him much attention for the rest of the day. 

Ultimately, Dipper decided that he'd figured out the biggest problem concerning Mabel's attachment to Danny, and despite him not knowing what exactly Danny might do after solving that problem, or what Danny had planned to do if he didn't, Dipper considered it a successful snooping, and strolled out of Mabel's room, gently stroking Waddles as he went.

His confidence was boosted, and hopefully, that would help him have the courage to face Danny.


End file.
